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I
THE GENERAL
BIOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY
A NEW EDITION.
VOL. XXXII
* :-
Printed by Nichols, Son, and West ley,
Red Lion Passage, Fleet Street, London.
THE GENERAL
/
BIOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY:
CONTAINING
AN HISTORICAL AND CRITICAL ACCOUNT
OF THE
LIVES AND WRITINGS
OF THE
%MOST EMINENT PERSONS
IN EVERY NATION;
PARTICULARLY THE BRITISH AND IRISH.
FROM THE EARLIEST ACCOUNTS TO THE PRESENT TIME.
A NEW EDITION,
REVISED AND ENLARGED BY
ALEXANDER CHALMERS, F. S. A.
VOL. XXXII.
LONDON:
PlbfNTED FOR J. NICHOLS AJJD SON ; F. C. AND J. RIV1NOT0N j T. PAYNE }
OTRIDGB AND SON; G. AND W. NICOL ; O. WILKIE ; J. WALKER; W.
LOWNDES; T. EGERTON; LACKINGTON, ALLEN,' AND CO.; J. CARPENTER;*
LONGMAN, HURST, REES, ORME, AND BROWN ; CADELL AND DA VIES; LAW
AND WH1TTAKER; J. BOOKER | J. CUTHELL ; CLARKE AND SONS; J. AND
A. ARCH; J. HARRIS; BLACK, PARBURY, AND ALLEN ; J. BLACK; J. BOOTH;
J. MAWMAN; GALE AND FENNBR ; R. H. EYANS j J. HATCHARD; J. MURRAY;
BALDWIN, CRADOCK, AND JOY ; E. BENTLEY ; OGLE AND CO. ; W. GINGER ;
ROBWELL AND MARTIN; P. WRIGHT; J. DEIGHTON AND SON, CAMBRIDGE;
CONSTABLE AND CO. EDINBURGH; AND WILSON AND SON, YORKv
1817.
A NfiW AtfD GEttfi
BIOQRAPHICAL DICTIONARY.
W HITGIFT (John), archbishop of Canterbury in the
reigns of queen Elizabeth and king James, and one of the
most intrepid supporters of the constitution of the church
of England, was descended of the ancient family of Whit-
gift in Yorkshire. His grandfather was John Whitgift,
gent, whose son was Henry, a merchant of Great Grimsby
in Lincolnshire- Another of his. sofl&lqtfjiprRobert Whitgift,
who was abbot de JVellaw or WdhiwejyJctaiGrimsby in the
said county, a monastery of Bjgjpk Canons dedicated to the
honour of St. Augustin. He was a man memorable, not
only for the education of our John Whitgift, but also far
his saying concerning the Romisb j-eJjgion. He declared
in the hearing of his nephew, that " they and their reli-
gion could not long continue, because," said he, " I have
read the whole Scripture over and over, and could never
find therein that our religion was founded by God." And
as a proof of this opinion, the abbot alleged that saying
of our Saviour, " Every plant that my heavenly Father
hath not planted, shall be rooted up." Henry, the father
of our archbishop, had six sotrs, of whom he was the eldest,
and one daughter, by Anne Dy newel, a young gentlewo-
man of a good family at Great Grimsby. The names of
the other five sons were William, George, Philip, Richard,
and Jeffrey ; and that of the daughter Anne.
John was born at Great Grimsby in 1530, according to
hi* biographers. Strype and Paule, but according to Mr.
Francis Thynne, quoted by Strype, in 1533 : the former,
however, is most probably the right date. He was sent
early for education to St. Antony's school,, London, then #
very eminent one, and was lodged in St. Paul's ohurch-
Vol. XXXH. B
a WHITGIFt
yard, *t bis aunt's, the daughter of Michael Shatter, a ver-
ger of that church. Imbibing very young a relish of the
doctrine of the reformation, he had of course no liking to
the mass; so that though his aunt had often urged him to
go with her to mass, and procured also some of the canons
of St. Paul's to persuade him to it, he still refused. By
this she was so much exasperated, that she resolved to en-
tertain bim no longer under her roof, imputing all her
losses and domestic misfortunes to her harbouring of such
an heretic within her doors ; and at parting told him,
" that she thought at first she had received a saint into her
house, but now she perceived he was a Devil.9'
He now returned home to bis father in Lincolnshire;
and his uncle, the abbot, finding that he had made some
progress iti grammatical learning, advised that he. should
be sent to the university. Accordingly he entered of
Queen's college, Cambridge, about 1548^ but soon after
removed to Pembroke-hall, where the celebrated John
Bradford, the martyr, was his tutor. He had not been
here long before he was recommended by his tutor and
Mr. Grindal (then fellow, and afterwards archbishop of
Canterbury) to the master, Nicholas Ridley, by which
means he was made scholar of that house, and chosen bible-
clerk. These advantages were the more acceptable to
bim, as his father had suffered some great losses at sea,,
and was less able to provide for him. When Bradford left
Cambridge in 1550, Whitgift was placed under the .care
4>f Mr. Gregory Garth, who continued his tutor while he
remained at Pembroke-hall, which was until he took his
degree of bachelor of arts in 1553-4. The following year,
be was' unanimously elected fellow of Peter-house, and
commenced master of arts in 1557.
Soon after this, as he was recovering from a severe fit of
sickness, happened the remarkable visitation of his univer-
sity by cardinal Pole, in order to discover and expel the
•heretics, or those inclined to the doctrines of the reforma-
tion. To avoid the storm, Whitgift thought of going
abroad, and joining tbe other English exiles; but Dr.
Perne, master of his college, although at that time a pro-
fessed papist, had such an esteem for him, that he under-
took to screen bim from the commissioners, and thus he
was induced to remain ; nor was he deceived in his con~
fidence in Dr. Perne's friendship, who being then vice-
chancellor, effectually protected him from all inquiry, not-
withstanding the very strict severity of the visitation.
W H 1 T G I F T. 3
■
In 1560 Mr. Whitgift entered into holy orders, and
preached his first sermon at St. Mary's with great and ge-
neral approbation. The same year he was appointed chap-
lain to Cox, bishop of Ely, who gave him the rectory of
Teversham in Cambridgeshire. In 1563 he proceeded
bachelor qf divinity, and Matthew Hutton, then fellow of
Trinity-college, being appointed regius professor of divi-
nity, the same year Whitgift succeeded him as lady Mar-
garet's professor of divinity. The subject of his lec-
tures was the book of Revelations and the whole Epistle
to the Hebrews, which he expounded throughout^ These
lectures were prepared by him for the press; and sir
George Paule intimates, that they were likely in his time
to be published ; but whatever was the reason, they have
never appeared. Strype tells us, that he saw this ma-
nuscript of Dr. Whitgift's own hand -writing, in the pos-
session of Dr. William Payne, minister of Whitechapel
London; and that after his death it was intended to be
purchased by Dr. John More, lord bishop of Ely. This
manuscript contained likewise his thesis, when he after-
wards kept his act for doctor of divinity, on this subject,
that " the Pope is Antichrist."
Soon after this he joinecl bis brother professor* Hutton,
and several heads of colleges, in a petition to sir William
Cecil, their chancellor, for an order to regulate the elec-
tion of public officers, the want of which created great dis-
turbance in the uuiversity at that time. Two years after
this be distinguished himself so eminently in the pulpit,
that sir Nicholas Bacon, then lord- keeper, sent for him to
court to preach before the queen, who heard him with
great satisfaction, and made him ber chaplain. The same
year (1565) being informed that some statutes were pre-
paring to~ enjoin an uniformity of habits, particularly to
order the wearing of surplices in the university, he pro-. ,
moted the writing of a joint letter privately to Cecil, ear-
nestly desiring him to stop (if possible) the sending down
any such orders, which be perceived would be very unac-
ceptable to the university. But this letter gave so much
offence at court, that he found it necessary to male an
apology for the share he had in it. In the mean time he
was so highly esteemed at Cambridge, both as a preacher
and a restorer of order and discipline there, that in June
of the following year, the university granted him a licence
Under their common seal, to preach throughout the realm,
»2
4 WHIT6IFT.
and in July following the salary of his professorship wa*
raised, out of respect to him, from twenty marks to twenty
pounds.
He had the year before been a considerable benefactor
to Peter-house, where, in 1567, be held the place of pre-
sident, but was called thence in April to Pembroke-hall,
being chosen master of that house, and not long after was
appointed regius professor of divinity. In both these pre*
ferments he succeeded his old friend Dr. Hutton, now
made dean of York, and to the first was recommended, as
t)r. Hutton had been, by Grindal, then bishop of London.
But he remained at Pembroke-hall only about three mouths,
for upon the death of Dr. Beauchamp, the queen promoted
him to the mastership of Trinity-college. This place was
procured for him, chiefly by the interest of sir William
Cecil, who, notwithstanding some objections bad been made
to his age, secured the appointment. The same year he
took his degree of doctor in divinity ; and in J 570, having
first applied to Cecil for the purpose, he compiled a new
body of statutes for the university, which were of great
service to that learned community.
' This work he finished in August, and the same month
was the principal agent in procuring an order from the
vice-chancellor and heads of houses, to prohibit the cele-
brated Cartwright (See Cartwright), who was now Mar*
garet professor, from reading any ipore lectures without
-some satisfaction given to them of his principles and opi-
nions. Dr. Whitgift informed the chancellor of this step,
and at the same' time acquainted him with Cartwright's
principles, and the probable consequences of them, on
which he received the chancellor's approbation of what
had been done. Cartwright, having refused to renounce
his opinions, was deprived of his professorship ; but as he
gave out that those opinions were rather suppressed by au-
thority, than refuted by reason, Dr. Whitgift took an ef-
fectual method to remove that objection. At the chancel-
lor's request, be wrote a confutation of some of the chief
of Cartwright's sentiments, and sent them to archbishop
Parkqf, in a letter dated Dec. 29, with au intention to
publish them, which, however, was not done until after-
wards when they were combined in his " Answer to the
Admonition, &c." hereafter noticed.
In 1671 Dr. Whitgift served the office of vice-chancel-
lor. The same year an order was made by the archbishop
W H I T G I F T. i
imd bishops, that all those who had obtained faculties to
preach, should surrender them before the third of August;
and that upon their subscription to the thirty-nine articles,
and other constitutions and ordinances agreed upon, new
licences should be granted. This being signified ' to the
university, and an order sent, requiring them to call in all
the faculties granted before, Whitgift surrendered his for-
mer licence, obtained in J 566, and had another granted
him in September 1571, in which he was likewise consti-
tuted ope of the university preachers. In June, in conse*
quence of the queen's nomination, be had been appointed
dean of Lincoln, and in October the archbishop granted
him a dispensation to hold with it his prebend of Ely and
rectory of Teversbam, and any other benefice whatsoever;
but in the following year he resigned the rectory of
Teversbam.
He was now, by particular appointment from the arch*
bishop of Canterbury, writing his " Answer to the Admo-
nition," which requiring more leisure than his office as
master of Trinity college could admit, he desired to leave
the university, but this the other heads of houses succeeded
in preventing. He had a little before expelled Cartwright
from his fellowship for not taking orders in due time, ac-
cording to the statute ; and before the expiration of the
year 1 572 published his " Answer to the Admonition to the
Parliament," 4to. The "Admonition" was drawn up by
Field, minister of Aldermary, London, and Mr. Wilcox.
As archbishop Parker was the chief person who encouraged
Whitgift to undertake the " Answer," he likewise gave
him considerable assistance, and other prelates and learned
men were also consulted, and every pains taken to make
it, what it has been generally esteemed, as able a defence,
of the Church of England against the innovations of the
puritans, as bishop Jewel's was against the doctrines of the
Church of Rome. A second edition appeared in 1573,
with the title '< An answer to a certain libel, entitled An
Admonition to the Parliament, newly augmented by the
author, as by conference' shall appear." To this a reply
being published by Cartwright, Dr. Whitgift published his
defence, fol. 1574. Cartwright published in 1574, 4to,
« The second Reply of T. C. against Dr. Whitgift's second
Answer touching Church-Discipline." What the opinion
of Dr. Whitaker, who was thought to be a favourer of pu-
ritanism, was concerning this book of Mr, Cartwright, will
• WHIT6IFT.
appear from the following passage in a Latin letter of bis.
preserved by Dr. Richard Bancroft and sir George Paule in
his " Life of archbishop Whitgift." " I have read a great
part pf that book, which Mr. Cartwright hath lately pub-
lished. • I pray God I live not, if I ever saw any thing
more loosely written, and almost more childishly. It is
true, that for words he hath great store, and those both
fine and new; but for matter, as far as I can judge, he is
altogether barren. Moreover, he doth not only think per-
versely of the authority of princes in causes ecclesiastical,
but also flyeth into the papists holds, from whom he would
be thought to dissent with a mortal hatred. But in this
point be is not to be endured, and in other points also be
borroweth his arguments from the papists. To conclude,
as Jerom said of Ambrose, he playeth with words, and is
lame in his sentiments, and is altogether unworthy to be *
confuted by any man of learning." And Whitgift, being
advised by bis friends to let Cartwright' s " Second Reply"-
passes unworthy of his notice, remained silent.
About the same time, Dr. Whitgift appeared in oppo-
sition to a design then meditated, for abolishing pluralities,
and taking away the impropriations and tithes from bishops
and spiritual (not including temporal) persons, for the
better provision of the poorer clergy. He did not, how-
ever, proceed farther in this than to express his sentiments,
in private to the bishop of Ely* who had proposed the
scheme, which does not appear to have been brought for-
ward in any other shape, probably in consequence of the
arguments he advanced against it. In March 1577 he was
made bishop of Worcester ; and as this diocese brought
him into the council of the marches of Wales, he was pre-
sently after appointed vice-president of those marches in
the absence of sir Henry Sidney, lord president, and now,
lord-lieutenant of Ireland. In June following he resigned
the mastership of Trinity college ; and just before pro-
cured a letter from the chancellor, in order to prevent the
practice then in use, of taking money for the resignation of
fellowships.
The queen, as we noticed in our account of archbishop
Grindal, had some thoughts of placing Whitgift in that
worthy prelate's room, even in his life-time, and Grindal
certainly would have been glad to resign a situation in
which his conduct had not been acceptable to the court,
aud he had at the same time such an opinion of Whitgift .
W H I T G I F T. f
as to be very desirous of hicn for a successor. But Wbk-
. gift could not be prevailed upon to consent to an arrange-
ment of this kind, and requested the queen would excuse
his acceptance of the office on any terms during thre life of1
Grind al. Grindal, however, died in July 1583, and the:
queen immediately nominated Wbitgift to succeed him as
archbishop of Canterbury. On entering on this high office »
be found it greatly over-rated as to revenues, and was
obliged to procure an order for the abatement of 100/. to
him and his successors, on the payment of first fruits, and *
he shortly after recovered from the queen, as part of the
possessions of the archbishopric, Long- Beach Wood, in*
Kent, which bad been many years detained frorti his pre-
decessor by sir James Croft, comptroller to her majesty's
household. But that in which he was most concerned was '
to see the established uniformity of the church in so great
disorder as if was from the non-compliaoce of the puritans,-
who, taking advantage of his predecessor's easiness in that
respect, were possessed of a great many ecclesiastical be-
nefices and preferments, io which they were supported by
some of the principal men at court. He set himself, there-
fore, with extraordinary zeal and vigour, to reform these
infringements of the constitution* for which he bad th*
qneen'-s express orders. With this view, in December
1583, he moved for an ecclesiastical commission, Which •
was soon after issued to him, with the bishop of London,
and several others. For the same purpose, in 1534, bd
drew up a form of examination, containing twenty-four
articles, which he sent to the bishops of his province, en-
joining them to summon all such clergy as were suspected
of nonconformity, and to require them to answer those ar-
ticles severally upon oath, ex officio mero, likewise to sub-
scribe to the queen's supremacy, the book of Gornmo*
Prayer, and the thirty-nine articles. •
At the same time he held conferences with several Of thfc*
puritans, and by that means blroughtspme to a compliance;*
but when others appealed from the ecclesiastical commis-
sion to the council, he resolutely asserted his jurisdiction',
arid vindicated bis proceedings, even in some' cases* against
the opinion of lord Burleigh, who was his chief friend there.
But as archbishop WhitgiFt's conduct has been grossly mis-
represented by the puritan historians and by their sue- •
cessors, who are still greater enemies to the church, it nrvay
be necessary to enter more in detail on bis,cocrespondeac* -
ft
W H I T G I F T.
with Burleigh, &c. at this time. Some ministers of Ely
being suspended for refusing to answer the examination
above mentioned, applied to the council, who wrote a let-
ter to the archbishop in their favour, May 26, 1583. To
this he sent an answer, in the conclusion of which, so well
was be .persuaded in his own mind of the propriety of his
conduct, he told the council, " that rather than grant them
liberty to preach, be would chuse to die, or live in prison
all the days of his life, rather than be an occasion thereof,
or ever consent unto it.91 Lord Burleigh, thinking these
ministers, hardly used in the ecclesiastical commission, ad*
vised them not to answer to the articles, except their con*
sciences might suffer them ; he at the same time informed
tbe archbishop that he had given such advice, and intt-*
mated his dislike of the twenty-four articles, and their
proceedings in consequence of them, in several letters.
To these the archbishop answered separately, in substance
as follows: In a letter dated June 14, from Croydon, .he
declares himself content to be sacrificed in so good a cause;-
and that the laws, were with him, whatever sir Francis
JCnollys (who, be said, had little skill) said to the contrary.
This alludes to a paper written by sir Francis, treasurer, to
the queen's household, in defence of the recusants, and
sent to the archbishop. . Burleigh, in. a second letter, dated
Jtily 1, expressing himself in. stronger terms against these
proceedings, concludes with saying that the articles were
branched pat into so many circumstances, that be thought
the inquisitors of Spain used not so many questions to trap
others; and that this critical sifting of ministers was not
to reform, but to insnare : but, however, upon his request,
he would leave them to his authority, nor " thrust bis sickle
into another man's. harvest."
>To this the archbishop sent an answer, dated July 3, to
tbe following purport : That, as touching the tweoty-fottr
articles, which his lordship seemed so much to dislike, as
written in a Romish style, and smelling of the Romish in-?
quisition, be marvelled at his lordship's speeches, seeing
it was the ordinary course in other courts, as in the star-
chamber, tbe courts of the marches, and other places ; and
that the objection of encouraging the papists by these
courses, bad neither probability nor likelihood. That as
to his lordship's speech for the two ministers, viz. that they
were peaceable, observed the book, denied the things
Wherewith they were charged, *nd desired to be tried, th$
W H I T O I F T. ..#.
■
archbishop demanded, now they were to be tried, why
they did refuse ft qui male egit odit luctm f That the ar-
ticles be administered unto them were framed by the most
learned in the laws, and who, be dared to say, hated both
the Romish doctrine and Romish inquisition ; and that he
ministered them to, the intent only that he might truly un-
derstand whether they were such manner of men, or no, as
they pretended to be, especially, seeing by public fame
tbey were noted of the contrary, and one of them pre-
sented by the sworn men of his parish for his disorders, as
he was informed by bis official there. That time would not
serve him to write much ; that he referred the rest to the
report of the bearer, trusting bis lordship would consider
of things as they were, and not as they seemed to be, or
as some would hare them ; that he thought it high time to
put those to silence who were and had been the instru-
ments of such great discontentment as was pretended;
that conscience was no more excuse for them than it was
for the papists or anabaptists, in whose steps they walked.
He knew, he said, that he was especially sought, and
many threatening words came to his ears to terrify him from
proceeding; that the bishop of Chester (Chaderton) had
Wrote to him of late, and that in his letter a little paper
was inclosed, the^.copy whereof be sent to his lordship*
"You know (said the archbishop) whom he knoweth ; but
it moves me not ; be can do no more than God will permit
him. It is strange to understand what devices have been
used to move me to be at some men's becks ;" the parti-
cularities of all which he would one day declare to his lord-
ship, and added, that be was content to be sacrificed in so
good a cause, " which 1 will never betray nor give over,
God, her. majesty, all the laws, my own conscience and
duty, being with me.9' He concludes with beseeching
Burleigh not to be discomfited, but continue; the cause
was good, and the complaints being general, were vain,
and without cause, as would appear when they descended
to particularities.
T;o encourage bis lordship farther, the archbishop, on
JuneJ24, sent him a schedule of the number of puritan
preachers in his province, with their degrees, confronting
them with the nonconformists, by which it appeared thgtt
there were seven hundred and eighty-six conformists, and
Mly forty-pine recusants.
.Cpr^.Itorte.igh, in pother letter, still insisting that he
l« W H I T G I F f .
would hot call his proceedings rigorous and captious, But:
that they were scarcely charitable, the archbishop sent
btm, July 15, a defence of his conduct in a paper entitled
" Reasons why it is convenient that those which are cul-
pable in the articles ministered judicially by the archbishop
of Canterbury and others, her majesty's commissioners for
causes ecclesiastical, shall be examined of the same ar-
ticles upon their oathsf," In this paper be maintained, 1.
That by the ecclesiastical laws remaining in force, such
articles may be ministered : this is so clear by all, that it*
was never hitherto called into doubt. 2. That this manner
of proceeding has been tried against such as were vehe-
mently suspected, presented, and detected by their neigh*
bours, or whose faults were notorious, as by open preach-
ing, since there hath been any law ecclesiastical in this
realm. 3. For the discovery of any popery it hath been
used in king Edward's time, in the deprivation of sundry
bishops at that time, as it may appear by the processes,
although withal for the proof of. those things that they de-
nied, witnesses were also used. 4. In her majesty's most
bappy reign, even from the beginning, this manner of pro-
ceeding has been used against the one extreme and the
other as general, against all the papists, and against all
those who would not follow the Book of Common Prayer
established by authority ; namely, against Mr. Sampson and
others ; and the lords of the privy council committed cer-
tain to the Fleet, for counselling sir John Southvvood and <
other papists not to answer upon articles concerning their
own facts and opinions, ministered unto them by her high-
ness's commissioners for causes ecclesiastical, except a
fame thereof were first proved. 5, It is meet also to be
<lone ex officio meroy because upon the confession of such
offences no pecuniary penalty is set down whereby the in-
former (as in other temporal courts) may be considered for
bis charge and pains, so that such faults would else be
wholly unreformed. 6. This course is not against charity,
for it is warranted by law as necessary for, reforming of of-
fenders and disturbers of the unity of the church, and for
avoiding delays and frivolous exceptions against such as
otherwise should inform, denounce, accuse, or detect them ;
and because none are in this manner to be proceeded
against, but whom their own speeches or acts, the public
fame, and some of credit, as their ordinary or such like, >
shall denounce, and signify to be such as are tobe rd-
WHITGIFT; U
formed in this behalf. 7. That the form of such proceed-
ings by articles ex officio mero is usual ; it may appear by
all records in ecclesiastical courts, from the beginning ; in
all ecclesiastical commissions, namely, by the particular
commission and proceedings against the bishops of London
and Winton, in king Edward's time, and from the begin-
ning of her majesty's reign, in the ecclesiastical commis-
sion, till tbis hour; and therefore warranted by statute.
8. If it be said that it be against law, reason, and charity,
for a man to accuse himself, quia nemo tenetur seipsum pro*
dere aut propriam turpitudinem revcUire, I answer, that by
all charity and reason, Proditus per denunciationem alterius
sive per Jamam, tenetur seipsum ostendere, ad evitandum
scandalum, et seipsum purgandum. Pralatus potest inquirere
sine proDia/ama^ ergo a fortiori delegati per principem pas-
sunt : ad h<ec in istis articulis turpitudo non inquiritur aut
jlagitium, sed excessus et errata clericorum circa publicam
functionem ministerii, dt quibus ordinario raiionem reddere
coguntvr. (The purport of our prelate's meaning seems to
be, that although no man is obliged to inform against him-
self, yet, if informed against by others, be is bound to come
forwards, in order to avoid scandal, and justify himself ;
that a bishop may institute an inquiry upon a previous/ami,'
much more delegates appointed by the sovereign; and
besides, that in these articles no inquiry is made as to tur-
pitude or criminality, but as to the irregularities and errors
of the clergy, in matters relating to their ministerial func-
tions, an account of which they are bound to render to
their ordinary.) 9. Touching the substance of the articles,
first, is deduced there being deacons and ministers in the
church, with the lawfulness of that manner of ordering ;
secondly, the establishing the Book of Common Prayer by
statute, and the charge given to bishops and ordinaries for
seeing the execution of the said statute ; thirdly, the good-
ness of the book, by the same words by which the statute
of Elizabeth calls and terms it. Fourthly, several branches
of breaches of the book being de propriis/actis. Fifthly,
is deduced detections against them, and such monitions as
have been given them to testify their conformity hereafter,
and whether they wilfully still continue such breaches of
law in their ministration* Sixthly, Their assembling of
conventicles for the maintenance of their factious dealings.
10. For the second, fourth, and sixth points, no man will
think it unmeet they should be examined, if they would
» WH1TGIFT.
tbave them touched for any breach of the book. ] 1 . The -
article for examination, whether they be deacon or minis-
ter, ordered according to the law of the land, is most
necessary ; first, for the grounds of the proceeding, lest
the breach of the book be objected to them who are not
bound to observe it ; secondly, to meet with such schis-
matics, whereof there is sufficient experience, which either
thrust themselves into the ministry without any lawful call-
ing at all, or else to take orders at Antwerp, or elsewhere
beyond the seas. 12. The article for their opinion of the
lawfulness of their admission into the ministry is )to meet
with such hypocrites as, to be enabled for a living, will be
content to be ordained at a bishop's hands, and yet, for
the satisfaction of their factious humour, will afterwards
have a calling of certain brethren ministers, with laying on
of hands, in a private house, or -in a conventicle, to the
manifest slander of the Church of England, and the nou-
rishing of a flat schism ; secondly, for the detection of
such as not by private, but by public speeches, and written
pamphlets spread abroad, do deprave the whole order
ecclesiastical of this church, and the lawfulness of calling
therein ; advouching no calling lawful but where their
fancied monstrous signorie, or the assent of the people, do
admit into the ministry. 13. The sequel that would follow
of these articles being convinced or proved, is not so much
as deprivation from ecclesiastical livings, if there be no
obstinate persisting, or iterating the same offence ; a mat-
ter far different from the bloody inquisition in time of
popery, or of the six articles, where death wad the sequel
against the criminal. 14. It is to be considered, what en-
couragement and probable appearance it would breed to
the dangerous papistical sacraments, if place be given by
the chief magistrates ecclesiastical to persons that tend of
singularity, to the disturbance of the good peace of the
church, and to the discredit of that, for disallowing whereof
the obstinate papist is worthily punished. IS. The num-
ber of these singular persons, in comparison of the quiet
and conformable, are few, and their qualities are also, for
excellence of gifts in learning, discretion, and considerate
zeal, far inferior to those other that yield their conformity ;
and for demonstration and proof, both of the numbers, and
also of the difference of good parts and learniug in the
province of Canterbury, there are but — hundred that re-
fuse, and — - thousands that had yielded their conformities.
W H I TO I F T. !3
These sentiments of the archbishop, although the detail
of them may seem prolix, will serve to shew the nature of
that unhappy dispute between the church and the puritans
which, by the perseverance of the latter, ended in the fatal
overthrow both of church and state in the reign of Charles Is
Tbey also place the character of Whitgift in its true lifbt,
and demonstrate, that he was at least conscientious in hi*
endeavours to preserve the unity of tbe church, and was
always prepared with arguments to defend bis conduct*
which could not appear insufficient in the then state of the
public mind, when toleration was not known to either
party. That his rigorous protection of the church from
the endeavours of the puritans to new mould it, should be
censured by them and their descendants, their historian*
and biographers, may appear natural, but it can hardly be
called consistent, when we consider that the immediate
successors of Whitgift, who censured him as a persecutor,
adopted every thing that was contrary to freedom and tole-
ration in his system, established a high commission-court
by a new name, and ejected from their livings the whole
body of the English clergy who would not conform to their
ideas of church-government: and even tyrannized over sueb^
men as bishop Hall and others who were doctrinal puritansr
and obnoxious only as loving the church that has arisen out
of the ashes of the martyrs.
Jn 1585, we find Whitgift, by a special order from the
queen, employed in drawing up rules for regulating tbe
press, which were confirmed and published by authority of
the Star-chamber in June. As be had been much im-
peded in his measures for uniformity by some of the privy-
council, he attached himself in a close friendship with sir
Christopher Hatton, then vice-chamberlain to the queen,
to whom he complained of the treatment he bad met with
from some of the court. The earl of Leicester, in parti-
cular, not content with having made Cartwright master of
his hospital, newly built at Warwick, attempted, by a most
artful address, to procure a license for him to preach
without the subscription ; but the archbishop peremptorily
refused to comply. About the beginning of next year,
the archbishop was sworn into the privy -council, and the
next month framed the statutes of cathedral-churches, so
as to make them comport with the reformation. In 1587,
when the place of lord-chaqcellor became vacant by the
death of sir Thomas Bromley, the queen made the arch-
14 WH1T61FT.
bishop an offer of it, which he declined, but recom-
mended sir Christopher Hatton, who was accordingly ap-
pointed.
On the alarm of the Spanish invasion in 1588, he pro-
cured an order of the council to prevent the clergy front
being cessed by the lord-lieutenants for furnishing arms,
. and wrote circular letters to the bishops, to take care that
their clergy should be ready, with a voluntary appointment
of arms, &c. This year the celebrated virulent pamphlet,
entitled '< Martin Mar-prelate" was published, in which
the archbishop was severely bandied in very coarse lan-
guage, but without doing him any injury in the eyes of
those whom he wished to please. The same year, the
university of Oxford losing their chancellor, the earl of
Leicester proposed to elect Whitgift in his stead ; but this,
being a Cambridge-man, he declined, and recommended
his friend sir Christopher Hatton, who was elected, and
thus the archbishop still had a voice in the affairs of that
university. In 1590, Cartwright being cited before the
ecclesiastical commission, for several misdemeanours, and
refusing to take the oath ex officio9 was sent to the Fleet-
prison, and the archbishop drew up a paper containing se-
veral articles, more explicitly against the disciplinarians
than the former, to be subscribed by all licensed preachers.
The next year, 1591, Cartwright was brought before the
Star-chamber; and, upon giving bail for his quiet beha-
viour, was discharged, at the motion of the archbishop,
who soon after was appointed, by common consent, to be
arbitrator between two men of eminent learning in a re*
markable point of scripture-chronology. These were Hugh*
Broughton the celebrated Hebraist, and Dr. Reynolds,
professor of divinity at Oxford. The point in dispute was,
" Whether the chronology of the times from Adam to Christ
could be ascertained by the holy Scriptures ?" The first
held the affirmative, which was denied by the latter. (See
Broughton, p. 82.)
In 1593, Dr. Bancroft published his u Survey of Dis-
cipline,'* in which he censured Beza's conduct in inter-
meddling with the English affairs in respect of church-go-
vernment ; upon which the latter complained of this usage
in a letter to archbishop Whitgift, who returned a long
answer ; in which, he not only shewed the justice of Dr.
Bancroft's complaint,- but further also vindicated Saravia
and Sutcliffe, two learned men of the English church, who
WHTTGIFT. IS
had written in behalf of the order of episcopacy, against
Beaa's doctrine of the equality of ministers of the gospel,
and a ruling presbytery. In 1534, fresh complaints being ,
made in parliament of the corruption of the ecclesiastical
courts, the archbishop made a general survey of those
courts, and their officers; and the same year he put a slop
to the passing of some new grants x>f concealed lands b6-
Ipnging to the cathedrals.
.- In 1595, when the disputes respecting church •discipline
appeared to be in a good measure appeased, the predes*
tinsrian-controversy took place ; and on this occasion, the
archbishop bad the chief direction in drawing up the fa-
mous " Lambeth articles/9 in concert with Bancroft, tbep
bishop of London, Vaughan bishop of Bangor, Tindaldeaa
of Ely, Whitaker, and others. Our readers are apprized
that these articles are favourable to the doctrines of Cal-
?in. The archbishop's declaration was, " I know them to
be sound doctrines, and uniformly professed in this church
of England, and agreeable to the articles of religion estab-
Jtshed by authority." The archbishop of York made a
similar declaration, .and the articles were forwarded to
Cambridge, accompanied by a letter from Whitgift, re-
commending that " nothing be publicly taught to the
contrary."
. This year (1595) be obtained letters patent from her
majesty, and began the foundation of his hospital at Croy-
don* The same year he protected the hospital of Har-
bjedown, in Kent, against an invasion of their rights and
property : and the queen having made him a grant of ali
jthe revenues belonging to the hospital of Eastbridge, m
Canterbury, he found out, and recovered next year, some
lands fraudulently withheld from it. In 1599, his hospital
at Croydon being finished, was consecrated by bishop
Bancroft. The founding of this hospital (then the largest
in the kingdom) having given rise to an invidious report
of the archbishop's immense wealth and Jarge revenues, hfe
dffev'upa particular and satisfactory account of all his pur-
chases sinJcehe had been bishop, with the sums given for
the same, and the yearly value of the lands, and to what
and whose uses, together with the yearly value of the arch-
bishoj}ru:k.
On the death of queen Elizabeth, in 1602, the arch-
bishop sent Dr. Neysle, dean of Canterbury, into Scotland
to king James, in. the name of the' bishops and clergy of
id Wflif di'Ft.
England, to tender their allegiance, and to understand hirf
majesty's pleasure in regard to the government of the
church ; and though the deau brought a gracious message
to him from the king, assuring his grace that be would
maintain the settlement of the church as his predecessor
left it, yet the archbishop was for some time not without
bis fears. The puritans, on the death of the queen, con-
ceived fresh hopes of some countenance, and began to
speak with more boldness of their approaching emanci-
pation from ecclesiastical authority. A book had beeh
printed the year before, by some of their party, entitled
" The Plea of the Innocents/' and in this year, 1603, ap-
peared "The humble Plea of the thousand Ministers for
redressing offences in the Church," at the end of which
they required a conference. In October a proclamation
wad issued concerning a meeting for the hearing and de-
termining things said to be amiss in the church. Thi?
issued in the famous conference held at Hampton-court,
Jan. 14, 16, and 18, an account of which was drawn up by
bishop Barlow. It only served to shew the puritans thai
the king was decidedly against them.
Archbishop Whitgift did not survive this conference
long. He was not well in December before, but troubled
with jaundice, which, together with his age, made him unfit
to wait upon the king and court abroad the last summer.
But soon after the conference at Hampton-court, going- iti
his barge to Fulbam in tempestuous weather, he caught
cold ; yet the next Sunday, being the first Sunday in Lent,
be went to Whitehall, where the king held a long discourse
with him and the bishop of London, about the affairs of
the church. His grace going thence to the council-cham*-
ber to dinner, after long fasting, he was seized with a pa*
ralytic stroke, and his speech was taken away. He - wttt
then carried to the lord treasurer's chamber, and thence,
after a while, conveyed to Lambeth. On Tuesday he wa*
visited by the king, who, out of a sense of the importance
of his services at this particular juncture, told him, "that
he would pray to God for bis life ; and that if he could
obtain it, be should think it one of the greatest temporal
blessings that could be given him in this kingdom.9* The
archbishop would have said something to the king, but h»
speech failed him, so that he uttered only imperfect wordsv
But so much of his speech was heard, repeating earnestly
with his eyes and bands lifted up, " Pro $colesi& Dei t"
r
W H I T G I F T. n
fiemg stall desirous to have spoken his mind to the king, be
made two or three attempts to write to him ; but was too
far go»e, and the next day, being February the 29th, he
died. "Whether grief,,, says Strype, " was the cause of
his death, or grief and fear for the good estate of the
church under a new king and parliament approaching,
ninglmg itself with his present disease, might hasten his
death, I know not," But Camden says, " Whilst the
king began to contend about the liturgy received, and
judged some things fit to be altered, archbishop Whitgift
tiied wkh grief." "Yet surely," says Strype, "by what
.we have heard before related iu the king's management of
the conference, and the letter he wrote himself to the
archbishop, he had a better satisfaction of the king's mind.
To which I may add, that there was a * Directory,' drawn
i|p by the Puritans, prepared to be offered to the next par-
liament, which, in all probability, would have created
a great deal of disturbance in the house, having many fa-
vourers there ; which paper the aged archbishop was privy
to, and apprehensive of. . And therefore, according to
another of our historians, upon his death-bed, he should
use these words, 'Et nunc, Domine, exaltata est Anima
mep, quod in eo tempore succubui, quando mallem epis-
jcqpatfts mei Deo reddere rationem, quam inter homines
exercere: i. e. And now, O Lord, my soul is lifted up,
that I die in a time, wherein I had rather give up to God
an .account of my bisboprkk, than any longer to exercise it
among men.' "
He was interred in the parish church of Croydon, where
a monument was erected, with an inscription to his me-
mory. He is described as being in person of a middle
stature, a grave countenance, and brown complexion, black
hair and ^yes. He wore his beard neither long nor thick.
He was small-boned, and of good agility, being straight
and well shaped in all his limbs, to the light habit of his
body, which began somewhat to spread and fill out towards
•his latter years. His learning seems to have been confined
•to the Latin language, vas Hugh Broughton often objected
•to him, nor dees he appear to have been much skilled in
the deeper points of theology ; but he was an admired and
'diligent preacher, and took delight in exercising his talent
that way ; it wag, however, in ecclesiastical government that
'bjb forte lay, in the administration of which he was both in-
defatigable and intrepid. It is by his conduct in this that
Voj~ XXXII. C
18 m WHITG,IFT> .
his character has beeu estimated by posterity, and has been
Tariously estimated according to the writer's regard for, or
aversion to, the constitution of the church of England.
In his expences it appears that he was liberal and even
iftunificent. Both when bishop of Worcester and arch-»
bishop of Canterbury, be took for many years into his
house a number of young gentlemen, several of quality, to
instruct them, as their tutor, reading to them twice a day
in mathematics and other arts, as well as in the languages,
giving them good allowance and preferments as occasion
offered. Besides these, he kept several poor scholars in
his house till he could -provide for them, and prefer them,
arid maintained others at the university. His charitable
hospitality extended likewise to foreigners. He relieved
atid entertained at'his house for many years together several
, distressed ministers (recommended by Beza and others) out
of Germany and France, who were driven from their own
-homes, some by banishment, others by reason of war, shewv
ing no less bounty to them at their departure. Sir George
Paule assures us, that he remitted large sums of his own
parse to Beza.
He was naturally of a warm temper, which however he
-learned to correct as he advanced in years. Cecil earl of
Salisbury said of him, after his death, that "there was no-
thing more to be feared in his government, e$|>ecially to-
wards his latter time, than his mildness and clemency."
The judicious Hooker confirms this opinion, by averring
that " He always governed with that moderation,, which
useth by patience to suppress boldness." It does not ap-
pear that lie printed any thing except what we have men-
tioned in the controversy with Cartwright, but in StrypeV
Life of him, are many of his letters, papers, declaration*,
&c. the whole, like all Strype's lives, forming an excellent
history of the times in which he lived. l • » -
WH1TT1NGHAM (William), the puritan dean of Dur-
ham, the son of William Whittingham, esq. by a daughter
of- Haughton, of Haughton Tower, was born in the
city of Chester, in J 524. In his sixteenth year he became
a commoner of Brasenose college, Oxford, where he maths
great proficiency in literature. After taking his degree of
.bachelor of arts, he was elected fellow of Ail Souls in
* Strype's Life, M. — Life by »ir George Paule, 1699, 8vo. — The same*ritfc
notes id Woidsworth'g Uiograpby. — Bkg.Brit. — Fuller** Worthies,- Church Hi*.
lory, and Abel Redivivu*.
!
WHITTINGHAM, 19 »
1545, and two years afterwards was taade one of the seniors;
of Christ-church, on the foundation of Henry VIII. In
May 1 5 50, having obtained leave to travel for three years,
he passed his time principally at Orleans, where he married
the sister of Calvin. He returned to England in the latter
end of the reign of Edward VI. but, as he was a staunch
adherent to the doctrines of the reformation, he found it
necessary to leave home, when queen Mary came to the
throne, and joined the exiles at Francfort. Here he be-
came one of those who took part against the ceremonies of
the Church of England being observed among the exiles,
and afterwards became a member of the Church of Geneva.
On the Scotch reformer, Knox, leaving that society to re-
turn to his own country, Whittingham was prevailed upon
by Calvin to take orders in the Geneva form, and was
Knox's successor. While here, he undertook, along with
other learned men of the same society, an English transla-
tion of the Bible, which was not completed when those em-
ployed upon it bad an opportunity to return to England,
on the accession of queen Elizabeth. Whittingham, how-
ever, remained at Geneva to finish the work, during which
time be translated into metre five of the Psalms, inscribed
W. W. of which the 1 19th was one, together with the ten
commandments, and a prayer, all which make part of the
collection! known by the names of Sternhold and Hopkins.
- Soon after bis return to England, he was employed to
accompany Francis, earl of Bedford, On his embassy of
condolence for the death of the French king, in 1560. *
And he attended Ambrose, earl of Warwick, to Havre de
Grace, to be preacher there, while the earl defended it
against the French ; and Wood says, he preached noncon-
formity in this place. Warwick appears to have had a
very high opinion of him, and it was by his interest that
Whittingham was promoted to the deanery of Durham in
1563, which he enjoyed for sixteen years. During this
time he was one of the most zealous opponents of the ha-
bits and ceremonies, and so outrageous in his zeal against
popery, as to destroy sohie of the antiquities and monu-
ments in Durham cathedral, and even took up the stone
coffins of the priors of Durham, and ordered them to be
used as troughs for horses to drink in.
Notwithstanding his opposition to the habits, when in
1564 the order issued for wearing them, he thought proper to
comply, and being afterwards reproached for this by one
C 2
20 WB.ITTINGHAM.
•who was With hitn at Geneva, be quoted a saying- of Cfel-
•v5n*s, "that for "external rrratters of order, they might riot
■fiegtect their ministry, for so should they, for tithing of
toning neglect the greater things of the law." It bad been
WfcJ'l far the church bad this maxim more generally pce-
"tariled. Whittingham did essential service to government
in the rebellion of 1569, but rendered himself very ob-
-nbxitfus at court, hy a zealous preface, written by him, to
Christopher Goodman's book, which denied women the
bright of government. He was probably in other respects
obnoxious, generally as a nonconformist, which at last
excited a (dispute between him and Dr. Sandys, archbishop
of Ybrfc. In 1577 the archbishop made his primary visi-
tation throughout the whole of his province, and began
^vtth Durham, where a chaTge, consisting of thirty^fivfe
•articles, was brought against Wbittingbam, the principal
t*f Which was his being ordained only at Geneva. Whit-
tingham refused to answer the charge, but denied in the
first place the archbishop's 'power to visit the church of
Durham. On this Sandys 'proceeded to excorrrmunicaekwi.
Whittingham then appealed to the queen, who directed a
commission to the archbishop, Henry earl <rf Huntington,
♦ofd president of the north, and Dr. Hutton, dean x>f York,
to 'hear and determine the validity of his ordination, and
to inquire into the other misdemeanours contained in the
articles ; but this commission ended only in some counte-
nance being given to Whttaker by the earl and by Dr.
Hutton, the latter of whom went so far as to say, that "Mr*
Whittingham was ordained in a better sort than even the
Irfrchbishop himself." Sandys then obtained another com-
mission directed to himself, thfe bishop of Durham, and
lord president, the chancellor of the dioeese, rod some
Others. This was Elated May 14, 1578, and may be seen
in Ryrtier's Fcedera, vol. XV. Here, as Whittingham had
nothing to produce but a certificate or call from the
church of Geneva, it was objected to, but the lord pre-.
sident said that "it would be ill taken by all the godly and
learned, both at home and abroad, that we allow of popish
massing priests in our ministry, and disallow of ministers
made in the reformed church." It does not appear that
any thing was determined, and Whittingham's death put
an end to the question. He died June 10, 1579, in the
sfcty-fifth year of his age, and his remains were interred iri
the cathedral of Durham, with a monumental inscription,
WWITTINGH^W, 21
which was a|t&f ward* desjUfoyed by another set of in^oy a*
tors> tie appears tp baye been a oum of talents for bmU
ness* s*s< well as leading, and t,b$re was a design at one time,
ef advancing bin* a£ cpupt. He published little except
some few translations from, foreign authors to promote the
ca^se of the reformation aad he wrote some preface^. l
WHITT1NGTON (Robeet>, one of our early gnmm*
fi?t>s, was born in (Jchfreld about 1 4 SO, and educated und$c
the famous grammarian, John Stan bridge, in the school ad~
joiilapg to Magdalen college, Oxford. He afterwards made
a cQWsi.derable progress in philosophy, but topk more plea-
sure in classical and grammatical studies, in which be fan-
cied himself designed to shine. In 150 i he b#gan to te^cfe
a grammar-school, probably in London, as a,\l his plica-
tions were dated tbenc^. Ip the beginning of 1513X he
supplicated the congregation of regeats of the university
of Oxford,, by the rwme of Robert Whittington, ^ se-
cular chaplain, a&d a scholar of the art of rhetoric, that
whereas he had spent fourteen years in the study of
the said ait, and twelve years ity teaching, " it might
be s«$c&iic for him. that he. migl^t be laureated." This
heiag granted, he composed an hundred verses which
w^e stuck up in public places, especially on the doors of
Sit. Mary's church, ?nd wap solemnly crowned with a wreath
of laurel, &c. that is, he was made doctor of grammar,, an
ungual title and ceremony, and the last of the kind.. ThU
appeals to have conferred no academical rank, for be wa*
afterwards admitted to the degree, of bachelor of arts. Front
this time, however, he called himself \t\ several of his work?
Protpv&tes 4ngli#> .an assumption which his fellow-gr^m-
mariap$, Horipan and Wy, did not much relish. He ap-
pears indeed to have been very qonceited of his abilities
and tahave undervalued those who were at least his equals,
Yefe historians, allow hjm to hare been 4n excellent Greek
a&d Latin scholar) and a man of a facetious turq, b|it too
much given to personal satire both in conversation, smd in
btt tUerfery dispute? with Uly, Aldridge, and others. He ,
w^sali^e in 1,530, hut hpw long afterwards does not ap-
p$ar. He wrote agreaU ma^y grammatical treatises, some
of which WrtW* have long been in use in schools, for tbey
went through many edition^ Tbey arq enumerated by
. l 4th. Qx. vol. L— Hutphinson's Hist, of Durham. —Stripe's Life of Parker,
pp. 135, 156.^-Strype'sGrinda!, p. 170. — Strype'i Anuals.-— Brook's Lire* of U>f
Puritans,
32 WHITTINGTON.
Wood, and, more correctly, by Mr.Dibdin in bis Typogra-
pbical Antiquities. Warton also mentions a few of them,
and says that some of his Latin poetry is in a very classical
dtyle, and much in the manner of the earlier Italian poets.1*
WHITWORTH (Charles, Lord), author of a very cu-
rious account of the Russian empire, was son of Richard
Whitworth, esq. of Blowerpipe, in Staffordshire, who, about
the time of the revolution, had settled at Adbaston. He
married Anne Moseley, niece of sir Oswald Moseley, of
Cheshire, by whom he had six sons and a daughter : Charles ;
Richard, lieutenant-colonel of the queen's own royal regi-
ment of horse ; Edward, captain of a man of war ; Gerard,
one of the chaplains to king George the First ; John, cap-
tain of dragoons ; Francis, surveyor- general of his majesty's
woods, and secretary of the island of Barbadoes, father of
Charles Whitworth, esq. member of parliament in the be-
ginning of the present reign for Minehead in Somerset-
shire ; and Anne, married to Tracey Pauncefort, esq. of
Lincolnshire.
Charles, the eldest son, was bred under that accQmplished
minister and poet Mr. Stepney ; and, having attended him
through several courts of Germany, was, in 1702, appointed
resident at the diet of Ratisbon. In 1704 he was named
envoy -extraordinary to the court of Petersburgh, as he
was sent ambassador-extraordinary thither on a more so-
lemn and important occasion, in 1710. M. de Matueof,
the Czar's minister at London, had been arrested in the
public street by two bailiffs, at the suit of some tradesmen^
to whom he was in debt. This affront had like to have been
attended with very serious consequences. The Czar de-
manded immediate and severe punishment of the offenders,
with threats of wreaking his. vengeance on all English mer*
chants and subjects established in his dominions. In this
light the menace was formidable, and the Czar's memorials
urged the queen with the satisfaction which she had ex-
torted herself, when only the boat and servants of the earl
of Manchester had been insulted at Venice. Mr. Whit-
worth had the hohour of terminating this quarrel. In 1714,
he was appointed plenipotentiary to the diet of Augsbourg
and Ratisbon; in 1716, envoy -extraordinary and plenipo-
tentiary to the king of Prussia; in 1717, envoy-extraordi-
1 Ath. Ox. rol. I. new edit— WtrtoB's Hist of Poetry.— -Dibdio's Ames.— ■
Dodd's Ch. Hitt.
W H I T W Q R T H. 23
naryto the Hague. In 1719, he returned in. his former
character to Berlin; and in '1721 the late king rewarded,
his long services by creating him baron Whit worth of. Gal-
Way, in the kingdom of Ireland. The next year bis lord-
ship was entrusted with the affairs of Great Britain at the
congress of Cambray, in the character of ambassador-ex-
traordinary and plenipotentiary. He returned home in
1724, and died the next year at his hotose in Gerard-street,
London. His body was interred in Westminster- abbey.
His " Account of Russia, as it was in the year 17 10," was
published by the late lord Orford at Strawberry-hill, who
informs us that besides this little piece, which must retrieve
and preserve his character from oblivion, lord Whitworth
left many volumes of state letters and papers in the pos-
session of his relations. One little anecdote of him lord
Orford was told by tbe late sir Luke Schaub, who had it
from himself. Lord Whitworth had bad a personal inti-
macy with the famous Czarina Catherine, at a time when
her favours were not purchased, nor rewarded at so extra-
vagant a rate as that of a diadem. When he had compro-
mised the rupture between the court of England and the
Czar, he was invited to a ball at court, and taken out to
dance by the Czarina. As they began the minuet, she
squeezed him by tbe hand, and said iu a whisper, "Have
you forgot Utile Kate V '
Lord Whitworth's MS Account of Russia was communi-
cated to lord Orford, by Richard Owen Cambridge, esq.
having been purchased by him in a very curious set of
books, collected by Moos'. Zolman, secretary to the Jate
Stephen Poyntz, esq. This little library relates solely to
Russian history and affairs, and contains, in many languages, «
every thing that perhaps has been written on that country.1
WH YTT (Robert), an eminent physician, born at Edin-
burgh Sept 6, 1714, was the son of Robert Whytt, esq. of
fieunochy, advocate. This gentleman died six, months be-
fore tbe birth of our author, who was also deprived of his
mother before he had attained the seventh year of his. age*
After receiving the first rudiments of school- education, be
was sent to tbe university of St. Andrew's; and after the
usual course of instruction there, in classical, philosophical,
and mathematical learning, he came to Edinburgh, where
he entered upon the study of medicine, under those emi-
1 Lord Orford'f preface to tbe " Accdunt," Ice.
M WBYTT,
neat teachers, Monro, Rutherford, Sinclair, Plummet, At*
sion, and Innes. After learning what was to be afequtned*
in this university, he visited other countries in the proseco*
tion of his studies, and after attending the most eminent
teachers at London, Paris, and Leyden, he had the degree*
of M. D. conferred upon him by the university of Rbeiaw
in 1736, being then in the twenty-second year of his age.*
Upon his return to his own country, be had the same ho-
nour conferred upon him by the university (if St. Andrews,
where he had before obtained, with applause, the degree of
M. A. In 1737, he was admitted a licentiate of medicine
in the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh, and the
year following he was raised to the rank of a fellow of the
college. From the time of his admission as a licentiate, be
practised physic at Edinburgh a, and the reputation which:
lie acquired for medical learning, pointed him out as a filj
successor for the first vacant chair in the university. Ac-
cordingly, when Dr. Sinclair, whose eminent medical abi~
lities, and persuasive powers of oratory, had contributed not
a little to the rapid advancement of the medical school of
Edinburgh, found that the talents which he possessed, could
no longer be exerted consistently with his advanced age,
he resigned his academical appointments in favour of
JXr. Whytt.
This admission into the college took place June 20, 1746,
and Dr. Wbytt began his first course of the Institutions of
Medicine at the commencement of the next winter session,
in which the abilities be displayed were answerable to the
expectationsbis fame had excited. The Latin tongue was
then the language of the university of Edinburgh, and he
both spoke and wrote in Latin with singular propriety, ele«
gance, and perspicuity. At that time the system and sen-*
timents of Boerhaave, which, notwithstanding their errors,
must challenge the admiration of the latest ages, were very
generally received by the most intelligent physicians in
Britain. Dr. Whytt had no such idle ardour for novelties
as to throw them entirely aside because he could not follow
them in every particular. Boerhaavie*s " Institutions,"
therefore, furnished him with a text for his, lectures; and
he was no less successful in explaining, illustrating, and
establishing the sentiments of the author, when he could
freely adopt them, than in refuting them by clear, con-
nected, and decisive arguments, when he had occasion to
differ from him. The opinions which he himself proposed,
r
WHYTT,
wore delivered and eo forged wifth such ae*te*e9S,*f iitaet*
ifoa, such display of {acts, and force of argmie&t,. a* ccjukt
rarely fail to gain universal assent from bis niwwtou* audi*
tors, and be delivered them with becoming modesty and
diffidence.
From the time that be first entered upon an academical
appointment, till 1756, bis prelections were confined to th*
institutions of medicine alone. But at tbat period bis
learned colleague, Dr. Rutherford, who was then profess**
of the practice of medicine, found it necessary to retire;
and on this occasion, Dr. Wbytt, Dr. Monro senior, and
Dr. Cullen, each agreed to take a share in an appointment
in which their united exertions promised the highest ad*
vantages to the university. By this arrangement, students
who bad an opportunity of daily witnessing the practice of
three such teachers, and of hearing the grounds of that
practice explained, could not fail to derive the most solid
advantages. In these two departments the institutions of
medicine in the university, and the clinical lecture* ia
the royal infirmary (which were first begun by Dr. Ru>
tberford) Dr. Wbytt's academical labours were attended
with the most beneficial consquences both to the students^
and to the university. But not long after the period we
have last mentioned, his lectures on the former of these
subjects underwent a very considerable change. About
this time the illustrious Gaubius, who had succeeded to the
chair of Boerhaave, published his " Institutiones Patholo-
gist." This branch of medicine had indeed a place in the
text which Dr. Why tt formerly followed, but, without de-
tracting from the character of Boerhaave, it may justly be
said, that the attention be had bestowed upon it was not
equal to its importance. Dr, Whytt was sensible of the im-
proved state in which pathology now appeared in the writ-
ings of Boerhaave's successor; and he made no delay ia
availing himself of the advantages which were then afforded*
Accordingly, in 1762, his pathological lectures were en-
tirely new modelled. Following the publication of Gaur
bius as a text, he delivered a comment, which was heard by
every intelligent student with the most unfeigned satisfac-
tion. For a period of more than twenty years, during which
he was justly held in the highest esteem as a lecturer at
Edinburgh, . it may readily be supposed that the t-xten* <d
his practice corresponded to his reputation, in fact he re-
ceived both the first emoluments, and the highest hoafaie.
*6 WHHT,
which could there be obtained. With extensive practice
in Edinburgh, he had numerous consultations from other
places. His opinions on medical subjects were daily re-
quested by his most eminent contemporaries in every part
of Britain. • Foreigners of the first distinction, and cele-
brated physicians in the most remote parts of the British
empire, courted an intercourse with him by letter. Be-
sides private testimonies of esteem, many public marks of
honour were conferred upon him both at home and abroad*
In 1752, he was elected a fellow of the Royal Society of
London; jn 1761, he was appointed first physician to the
king in Scotland ; and in 1764, he was chosen president of
the royal college of physicians at Edinburgh.
At an early period of life, soon after he had settled as a
medical practitioner in Edinburgh, he married Miss Ro-
bertson, sister to general Robertson, governor of New
York ; by her he had two children, both of whom died in
infancy, and their mother did not long survive them. A
few years after he again entered into the married state with
Miss Balfour, sister to James Balfour, esq. of Pilrig. By
this lady he had fourteen children, six of whom only
survived him. His wife died in 1764, and it is not impro-
bable that the many deaths in his family, and this last loss
had some share in hastening his own ; for in the beginning
of 1765 his health was so far impaired, that he became in-
capable of his former exertions. A tedious complication of
chronical ailments, which chiefly appeared under the form
of Diabetes, was not to be resisted by all the medical skill
which Edinburgh could afford ; and at length terminated
in death, April 15, 1766, in the fifty-second year of his
age-
~ Dr. Whytt's celebrity as an author was very great. His
first publication was, " An Essay on the Vital and other In-
voluntary motions of animals," which was written fifteen
years before publication in 1751. His next publication
was his " Essay on the virtues of Lime-water and Soap in
the cure of the stone," 1752, part of which had appeared
several years before in the " Edinburgh Medical Essays." His
" Physiological Essays," were first published in 1755. In
1764 appeared his principal work, entitled "Observations
on. the nature, causes, and cure of those disorders which
«re commonly called nervous, hypochondriac, and hyste-
ric." The last of his writings, " Observations on the Dropsy
of the Brain," did not appear till two years after his death,
W H Y T T. fl*
when all his' works were collected and published in one vo-
lume quarto, under the direction of his son, and of his in-
timate friend the late sir John Pringle. Besides these five
works, he wrote many papers which appeared in different
periodical publications; particularly in the Philosophical
Transactions, the Medical Essays, the Medical Observa-
tions, and the Physical and Literary Essays. l
WICKHAM. SeeWYKEHAM.
WICKLIFFE, Wicliff, de Wyclif, or Wiclef (John),
a very learned English divine in the fourteenth century,
and the first champion of that cause which was afterwards
called Protestantism, was born at a village then called
Wickliffe, from which he took his surname, near Richmond
in Yorkshire, in 1324. Of the parents of one who lived in
so remote a period, it cannot be expected that we should
be able to procure any account. He was sent early to Ox-
ford,- and was first admitted commoner of Queen's college,
and afterwards of Merton, where he became probationer,
but not fellow, as has been usually reported. While he
resided here, he associated with some of the most learned
men of the age who were members of that college, and it
is said that Geoffry Chaucer was at one time his pupil.
Among his contemporaries, he was soon distinguished both
for study and genius. He acquired all the celebrity which
a profound knowledge of the philosophy and divinity then
in vogue could confer, and so excelled in wit and argu-
ment as to be esteemed more than human. Besides the
learning of the schools, he accumulated a profound know-
ledge of the civil and canon law, and of the municipal laws
of our own country, which have been rarely an object of
attention until the establishment of the Yinerian professor*
ship. He also not only studied and'commented upon the
sacred writings, but translated them into English, and
wrote homilies on several parts of them ; and to all this he
added an intimate acquaintance with the fathers of the
Latin church, with St. Austin and St. Jerome, St. Ambrose
and St. Gregory.
With these acquisitions, he did not hastily obtrude the
novel opinions to which they had given rise. He was
thirty-six years of age before his talents appeared to the
world, and evten then they were called forth rathei by ne-
cessity than choice. In 1360 he became the advocate for
1 Encyelopsdia Britannic*.
jp. W I G ItIF F E.
ther university against the incroachments made by the men-
dicant friars, wfeo had been very troublesome from their
first establishment in Oxford in 1230, aard had occasioned
great inquietude lo the chancellor and scholars, by infringe
ia*g. their statutes and privileges, and setting up an exempt
jurisdiction. Their misconduct bad decreased the number
of students from thirty thousand to six thousand, parents
being afraid to send their children to toe university, where
tjbey w$re in danger of being enticed by these friars from
(be colleges into convents;, and no regard was paid to the
determination of parliament in 1366, that the friars should
veceive no scholar under the age of eighteen. But Wick-
liffe now distinguished himself against these usurpations,
and, with Thoresby, Bolton, Hereford, and other colleagues,
openly apposed the justification which the friars bad ad*
vaueed in favour of their begging trade from the example
pf Christ and his. apostles. Wickliffe also wrote seyeral
tsaets against them, particularly " Of Clerks Possessionem,"
*' Of the Poverty of Christ, against able Beggary ," and
*' Of Idleness in Beggary." These were written, with an
elegance uncommon in that age, in the English language,
of which he may be considered as one of the first refiners,
4vhiie his writings afford many curious specimens of old
English orthography. His controversies gave him such re-
putation in the university, that, in 1361 he was advanced
to he master of Baliol college ; and four years after he
was tnade warden of Canterbury -hall, founded by Simon
de I slip, archbishop of Canterbury, in 1361, and now in-
cluded in Christ-church. The letters of institution, by
which, the archbishop appointed him to this wardeosbip,
were dated 14 Dec. 1365, and in them he is styled, " a
.person in whose fidelity, circumspection, and industry, bis
grace; very much confided ; and one on whom be had fixed
his eyes for that place, on account of the honesty of his
life, his laudable conversation, and knowledge of letters."
Wickliffe amply fulfilled these expectations, till the
death of the archbishop in 1366, who was succeeded in
the archiepiscopal dignity by Simon Langbam. This pre-
late had been a monk, and being inclined to favour the re-
ligious against the seculars, was easily persuaded by the
monks of Canterbury to eject Wickliffe in 1367 from his
wardenship, and the other seculars from their fellowships-
He also issued out his mandate, requiring Wickliffe and
all the scholars to yield obedience to Wodehall as their
.WJCKLIFFJB. »
warden. This WodehaU had actually <be*n appointed wuav
den by tlie founder, but he was at such variance with the
secular scholars, that the archbishop was compelled to
tarn him and three other monks out of his new* founded
hall, at which time he appointed Wickliffe to be warden,
aud three other seculars to be scholars. The scholars now,
however, refused to yield obedience to Wodehall, as bemg
contrary to the oath they bad taken to the founder, and
Langham, irritated at their obstinacy, sequestered the to*
venue, and took away the books, &c. belonging tofche haH.
Wickliffe, and his expelled fellows, appealed to the pope,
who issued a bull, dated at Viterbo 28 May, 137U, restor-
ing Wodehall and the monks, and imposing perpetual si-
lence on Wickliffe and his associates. As this bull was
illegal, and interfered with the form of the licence of
mortmain, the monks in 1372 screened themselves by pro*,
curing the royal pardon, and a confirmation of the papal
sentence, for which they paid 20Q marks, nearly 800/. of
our money.
About this time the pope (Urban) sent notice to king
Edward, that he intended to cite him to his court at Avig-
non, to answer for his default in not performing the bo-
mage which king J<£n acknowledged to the see of Rome;
and for refusing to pay the tribute of 700 marks a-year,
which that prince granted to the pope. The king laid this
before the parliament, and was encouraged to resist the
claim. One of the monks having endeavoured to vindicate
it, Wickliffe replied ; and proved that the resignation of
the crown, and promise of a tribute made by king John,
ought not to prejudice the kingdom, or oblige the present
king, as it was done without consent of parliament. This
introduced him to the court, and. particularly to the duke
of Lancaster, who took him under his patronage. At this
time he styled himself peculiaris regis clericus, or the king's
own clerk or chaplain, but continued to profess himself an
obedient son of the Roman church. Shortly alter he was
presented, by the favour of the duke of Lancaster, to the
living of Lutterworth in Leicestershire, but in the diocese
of Lincoln, and it was here that be advanced in his writ-
ings and sermons, those opinions which entitle him to the
rank of reformer. But as he did not in the most open
iQanner avow these sentiments until he lost this living;, hit
enemies then and since have taken occasion to impute
them to a motive of revenge against the court of Rome
30 WICKLIFFE.
which deprived him. This, however, is not strictly the
troth, as he seems to have uttered and maintained some of
'bis reforming opinions before he was turned out of the
rectorship. This is evident from a tract entitled " Of the
last age of* the Church," published in 1356, fourteen
years before, in which he censures the popish exactions
and usurpations.
It must be allowed, however, that his boldness increased
with his sufferings. In 1372 he took his degree as doctor
of divinity, and read lectures with great applause, in which
he more strongly opposed the follies and superstitions of
the friars, exposed their corruptions, and detected tbeit
practices without fear or reserve. The "conduct of the
court of Rome in disposing of ecclesiastical benefices and
dignities to Italians, Frenchmen, and other aliens, became
so notorious and oppressive, that in 1374, the king issued
out a commission for taking an exact survey of all the dig-
nities and benefices throughout his dominions, which were
in the hands of aliens. The number and value of them
appeared enormous, and he determined to send seven am-
bassadors to require of the pope that he would not interfere
with the reservation of benefices. He -had tried a similar
embassy the year before, which procured only an evasive
concession. On the present occasion Wickliffe was the
second person nominated, and, with the other ambassadors,
was piet at Bruges by the pope's nuncio, two bishops and
a provost. This treaty continued two years, when it was
concluded that the pope should desist from making use of
reservations of benefices. But the very next year, the
treaty was broken, and a long bill was brought into parlia-
ment against the papal usurpations, as the cause of all the
plagues, injuries, famine, and poverty of the realm. They
remonstrated that the tax paid to the pope amounted to
five times as much as the tax paid to the king ; and that
God bad given his sheep to the pope to be pastured, not
fleeced. Such language encouraged Wickliffe, who boldly
exposed the pride, avarice, ambition, and tyranny of the
pope, in his public lectures and private conversation ; and
the monks complained to the pope that Wickliffe opposed
the papal powers, and defended the royal supremacy ; on
which account, in 1376 they drew up nineteen articles
against him, extracted from his public lectures and ser-
mons, of which some notice will be taken hereafter. It
Boay be sufficient to add in this place, that they tended to'
WICKLIFFE. SI
oppose the rights which the popes had assumed, and to
justify the regal, in opposition to the papal' pretensions of
an ecclesiastical liberty, or an exemption of the persons of
the clergy, and the goods of the church from the civil
power. In advancing such opinions, he had the people on
his side, and another powerful protector appeared for him
in Henry Percy, earl -marshal. This alarmed the court of
Rome, and Gregory XI. issued several bulls against Wick-
lirTe, all dated May 22, 1377. One was directed to the
archbishop of Canterbury and the bishop of London, whom
be delegated to examine into the matter of the complaint ;
another was dispatched to the king himself* and a third to
the university of Oxford. In the first, addressed to the
two prelates, he tells them, " he was informed that Wick-
•liffe had rashly proceeded to that detestable degree of mad-
ness, as not to be afraid to assert, and publicly preach,
such propositions, as were erroneous and false, contrary to
the faith, and threatening to subvert and weaken the estate
of, the whole church." He therefore required them to
cause Wickliffe to be apprehended and imprisoned by his
authority ; and to get his confession concerning his propo-
sitions and conclusions, which they were to transmit to
Rome ; as also whatever he should say or write, by way of
introduction or proof. But, if WicklirTe could not be ap-
prehended, they were directed to publish a citation for his
personal appearance before the pope within three months.
The pope requested the king to grant his patronage and
assistance to the bishops in the prosecution of Wjckliffe.
In the bull to the university, he says, the heretical pravity
of WicklirTe tended " to subvert the state of the whole
church, and even the civil government." And be orders
them to deliver him up in safe custody to the delegates.
King Edward III. died before these bulls arrived in
England, and the university seemed inclined to pay very
little respect to the one addressed to them. The duke of
Lancaster and the earl-marshal openly declared they would
not suffer him to be imprisoned, and as yet, indeed, the
bishops' were not authorized by law to imprison heretics
without the royal consent. The archbishop of Canterbury
and the bishop of London, however, on the 19th Feb. 1378*,
issued out their mandate to the chancellor of the univer-
sity of Oxford, commanding them to cite WicklirTe to ap-
pear before them in the church of St. Paul, London, within
thirty days. But in such reputation was Wickliffe ;held at
M W1CKLIF :F «.
•this time, that when, in the interval before bis appearance,,
the first parliament of king Richard II. met, and debated
" whether they might lawfully refuse to send the treasure
'out of the kingdom, after the pope requited it on pain of
^©ensures, by virtue of the obedience due to him r" the re-
solution of this doubt was referred by the king and parli*-
taient to doctor Wicklifle, who undertook to prove the le-
•gality of their refusal.
Such confidence reposed in him by the higher poU*ei*
/Augured ill for the success of the prelates who had sum-
moned him to appear before them. On the day appointed,
« vast concourse assembled, and Wickliffe entered, accom-
panied by the duke of Lancaster and the earl-marshal
Percy, wl;o administered every encouragement to hioi.
-But before the proceedings began, an altercation was oc~
.casioned by the bishop of London's opposing a motion off
the earl-marshal, that Wickliffe should be allowed a seel.
The duke of Lancaster replied to the bishop in warm terms,
. and said, although rather softly, that " rather than take
^uch language from the bishop, he would drag him out of
-the church by the hair of his head." But this being over-
heard, the citizens present took part with their bishop, and
such a commotion ensued that the ceurt broke up without
entering on the examination, while Wickliffe was carried
*>ff by his friends in safety. The Londoners, in revenge,
plundered the duke of Lancaster's palace in the Savoy, and
the duke turned the mayor and aldermen out of the ma-
gistracy for not restraining their violence. From these
circumstances it would appear. that at this time Wickliffefe
principles had not been espoused by many of the lower
classes, as is generally the case with innovations in religious
matters ; yet it was not long before be had a strong party;
of adherents even among them, for when lie was a second
time cited by the prelates to appear before them at Lanv-
heth, the Londoners forced themselves into the chapel tb
encourage him, and intimidate his judges and accusers.
*On this occasion Wickliffe delivered a paper to the oourt,
an which he explained the charges against him, but the
{proceedings were again stopped by the king's mother, who
sent sir Lewis Clifford to forbid their proceeding to any
-definitive sentence against Wickliffe. This completely
-disconcerted them, and according to the evidence of thetr
<own historian, Walsyngham, changed their courage * into
fiuaiUanimity. "Qui quam indevote," says be, " guam
t
WlCXLIFFfi. SS
segniter cemmiss* itbi mandate compleverint, melius est
fliJere quam loqoi." All they could da wan .to enjoin bim
silence, to which be paid no regard ; bis fol lowers *in<*
creased ; the death of pope Gregory XI. put an end to the
commission of the delegates j and when a schism ensued
by the double election of two1 popes, Wickliffe wrote a
tiact, " Of the Schism of the Roman Pontiffs/1 and soon
after published his book " Of the Truth of the Scripture/9
in which he contended for the necessity of translating the
scriptures into the English language, and affirmed that the
will of God was evidently revealed in two Testaments ; • that
die law of Christ was sufficient to rule the church ; and
that any disputation* not originally produced from thence*
ouist be accounted profane.
• About this time* the fatigues he underwent in his at*
tendance on the delegates, threw him into a dangerous ill-
ness on his return to Oxford. The mendicant friars took
this opportunity to send a deputation to him, representing
the great injuries he bad done to them by his sermons and
. writings, and* as he was at the point of death* exhorting
him to recbnti Wickliffe, however* recovering bis spirits
at this unintended acknowledgment of the success of his
writings, raised himself on bis pillow, and replied, " t
shall not die, but live to declare the evil deeds of the friars."
On his recovery he embraced every opportunity in bis lee*
tures* sermons, or writings, of exposing the Romish court,
and detecting the vices of the clergy, both religious and
secular; and his efforts were supported by certain proceed*
ings of the parliament, which in 13S0 rendered foreign
ecclesiastics incapable of holding any Benefices in England ;
and at the same time petitioned the king to expel all fo-
reign monks, lest they should instil notions into the people
repugnant to the welfare of the state.
But what gave most .uneasiness to his enemies* was his
having undertaken to translate the Holy Scriptures into
English. These had never been translated, except by Ri-
dsard ifttz-ralph, archbishop of Armagh* and John de Tre*
visa, a Cornish-man, who both lived in the reign of Edward
III. Mr. Lewis is of opinion that Wickliffe began his
translation abont 1379 or 138b. But it is more probable
that it wAs his chief employment for the last ten years at
' least of his* life, and he had the assistance of some of bis
followers. He translated from Latin into the vulgar tongue,
the* twenty-five canonical .books of the Bible, which he
Vol. XXXIL D
34 WICKLIFFE.
reckoned in the following order, and we transcribe a* a ■
specimen of the style and spelling of his language. u l,
Genesis. 2. Exodus. 3. Levitici. 4. Numeri. - 5. De?~
teronomi. 6. Josue. 7. Iudicum, that encloseth the story
of Ruth. 8, 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. ben the 4 Bokes of Kyogand
fweie Bokes of Paralipomenon. 14. Is Esdre, that cobj-
prehendeth Neemy. 15. Is Hester. 16. Is Job. 17. Psal-
ter. 18. 19. 20, ben the 3 Bokes of Solomon. 21. 22. 23. '
24, ben the four great prophets. 25. Is a Boke^of J 2 small
Prophets, Osee, Joel, Amos, Abdie, Jonas, Miehee, Na-
hum, Abacuc, Sophonie, Aggie, Zacharie, and Madacbie."
He adds, " That whatever .boke is in the Olde Testament
without these 25 aforesaid, shal be set among Apocrypha,
that is, withouten autoritie of belive. Therefore as bolie
chirch redith Judith and Tobit, and the Bokes of Macba-
beis but receiveth not tho' amonge holi scriptures ; . so.
the chirch redith these 2 Bokes Ecclesiastici, and Sapieme
to edifying of the people, not to confirme the autoritie of
techyng of holi chirch. And that therefore he translated
not the 3 ne 4 Boke of Esdree that ben Apocrypha." The
books of the New Testament he reckons in this order.
'VThe 4 Gospellers, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John;
12 Epistles of Poule; 7 small Epistles; the Dedes of
Apostles, and the Apocalyps, which ben fulli of autoritie
of bvleve." Mr. Lewis observes, be translated word, for
word, without always observing the idioms or proprieties of
the several languages ; by which means this translation in
some places is not very, intelligible to those who do not un-
derstand Latin. The reason why he made his version from,
the Vulgate was, not that he thought it the original, or of
the same authority with the Hebrew and Greek text, but,
because he did not understand those languages well enough
to translate from them.
Of this translation several manuscript copies, are extant
i,u the libraries of our universities, the British museum, and
other public and private collections. The New Testament
was published in 1731 fol. by Mr, John Lewis, minister of
Margate ; with a History of the English Translations of
the Bible ; which History was reprinted in 1739, &vo, with,
large additions. Of the style we shall now exhibit a far-,
ther, and more perfect specimen, in these three verses pf
Romans viii. 2 &, 29, 30. " And we witen, that to men,
that louen God alle thing is werchen to gidre into^good to
hem that aftir purpose-been clepki seyntis. For thilk that.
WlCKLIFfrE, 3i
he knew bifore, be bifore ordeynyde bi grace to be maad
lykto the y mage of his Sone, that he be the firste bigeten
among manye britbeten. And thilke that he bifore or-
deynyde tobliss€y hem heclepide, and whicbe be clepide
hem he justifiede, and which he justifiede, and beta he
glorifiede.'*
In 1381 we find Wickliffe attacking the doctrine of
transubstantiation, which was first asserted by Radbertiis
about the year 820, and had been- always propagated by
the Rdinish church. Wickliffe offered to support hi*
opinion in a public disputation, but as that was prohibited,
he published it in a tract entitled " De Blasphemia," which
was condemned by William de Barton, chancellor of the7
university, and eleven doctdrs, of whom eight wer$ of the
religious. Wickliffe maintained that they had not refuted
Bis assertions, arid Appealed frdm their condemnation to
the king. In the mean time William Courtney, bishop of
London, succeeded arbhbishop Sudbury in the see of Can-
terbury, and Was entirely devoted to the interest qf his
patron the pope. This prelate had before shewn himself*
violent opposer of Wickliffe, and now proceeded against
him and his followers. But as soon as the parliament met
in 1982; Wickliffe presented his appeal to the king and
both hduses. Walsingham represents this as dorie with a
design to draw the riobility irito erroneous opinions, and
that it was disapproved by the Duke of Lancaster, who
ordered Wickiiflfeto Speak no riiore of that matter. Others
say that the duke advised Wickliffe not to Appeal to th^
king, but submit to the judginent of his Ordinary ; upon*
which, the monks assert, he retracted his doctrine at Ox*
ford in the presence of the'arcbbishop of Canterbury, -six"
bishops, and many doctors, surrounded .With a grfeat con-
course of people. But th%|Coiifession whicih he read, irt
Latin, was rather a vindita|ipd of his opinion of the sacra-
ment, as it declares bis resolution to defend it with bis
blood* and maintains the contrary to be heresy.
The persecution which followed plainly proves this to b£
the case. After the death of the qUeeri, Anne of Luxem-
burgi In 1304* wbb was a favourer of the Wicfctiflttes, the
archbishop, doiirtney, assembled a court of bishops, in the .
monastery of the preaching friars, London, who declared
fourteen* conclusions of Wickliffe arid others, heretical'
ahd erroneous. It is said that Wickliffe was prevented from '
appearing at this coiirt By fats friends, Who thought that a
V 2
36 W I c K L r F f n.
plot was laid to seize him on the road. Hit cause, how-
ever, was undertaken by the chancellor of Oxford, the two
proctors, and the greatest part of tbq senate, who* in a
letter, sealed with the university seal, and sent to the
court, highly commended his learning, piety, and ortbo-*
dox faith. His particular friends and followers, Dr. Nicho-
las Hereford, Dr. Philip Rapingdon, and John Ayshtpn,
M. A. defended his doctrines both in this court and in the
convocation. The archbishop still persisted in his endea-
vours to punish the Wickliffites, but their doctrines in-
creased, while- Wickliffe himself, although obliged to quit
his professorship at Oxford, lived peaceably at Lutterworth,
still divulging his principles, and increasing the number of
his followers. In 1332, soon after he left Oxford, be was
seized with the palsy; and about the same time the pope
cited him to appear at Rome, to which he sent an excuse,
pleading, that " Christ had taught him to obey God ra-
ther than man.19 He was seized with a second stroke of
palsy on Innocent's day 1384, as he was in his church of
Lutterworth, and soon after expired, in the sixtieth year
of his age.
On the 5th of May, 1415, the council of Constance con*
damned forty -five articles maintained by Wi<?kliffe, as
heretical, false, and erroneous. His bones were ordered
to be dug up and cast on a dunghill; but this part of his
sentence was not executed till 1428, when orders were sent
by the pope to the bishop of Lincoln to have it strictly
performed. His remains, which had now lain in the grave
forty-four years, were dug out and burnt, and the ashes
cast into an adjoining brook, called the Swift, It is said
that the gown which Wickliffe wore now covers tb^ com-
munion-table of the church of Lutterworth.
The principles which this eminent reformer endeavoured
to introduce may be gathered from the nineteen articles
before-mentioned, which were extracted from bi$ public
lectures and sermons, by the monks, and sent to the pope.
It appears that he held the doctrine of predestination in as
strong a sense ks any who bate since supported it, and, in
the opinion of a late writer, carries it much farther than
any modern or ancient writers have attempted. He was,
indeed, an absolute necessitarian, and among certain ar-
ticles extracted from his works by Thomas Netfer (com-
monly called Thomas of Walden, who flourished *bout
1409) we find the following, « That all things come te pass
W I C K L I P F K. 37
by fatal necessity ; that God could not make the world
otherwise than it is tnade ; and that God cannot do any
thing which he doth not do." Other less unguarded ex-
pressions have been laid to his charge, of which Fuller ob-
serves, that were all. his works extant, " we might read the
occasion, intention, and connection of what be spake, to-,
gether with the limitations, restrictions, distinctions, and
qualifications, of what he maintained. There we might see
what was the overplus of bis passion, and what the just ,
measure of his judgment" He maintained, with the church
in after-times, the doctrine of pardon and justification by
the alone death and righteousness of Christ. The several
points in which he differed from the then established po-
pery were these ; the reading of the bible in the vulgar
tongue, and making them the sole role of a Christian's faith
and practice, without faith in tradition, or any human au-
thority ; his opposing the pope's supremacy and infallibility;
his rejecting and condemning transubstantiation, indul-
gences, confession, and absolution, extreme unction ; the
celibacy of the clergy ; forced vows of chastity ; prayers
to, and worship of saints, shrines and pilgrimages. But
the opinions which rendered him most obnoxious in his day,
were those which struck at the temporal dominion of the
pope, and which occasioned many of his followers to be
persecuted in the subsequent reigns of Richard II. Henry
IV. and Henry V.
His works are very voluminous, yet he seems not to have
engaged in any great work. They are, more properly
speaking, tracts, some of which were written in Latin, and
some in English; some were on school-questions; others
on subjects of more general knowledge ; but the greatest
part on divinity. Mr. Gilpin has given a list of the mdre
remarkable. Bale has a more particular account. Some
ar* preserved in Trinity and Corpus colleges, Cambridge,
a few in Trinity college, Dublin, in the Bodleian, and
in the British museum. Mr. Baber, in his late edition
of the New Testament, has given the fullest and most
accurate account of these. The following list comprises
all that have been printed : I. " TrialogUs," a dialogue in
Latin, between Truth, Falsehood, and Wisdom," printed
somewhere in Germany, about 1525, 4to, pp. 175. This
is .very scarce, having been mostly destroyed. by the Ro-
manists *, but a n?w edition of it was printed at Frank-
* See Ames Topng. Antiq. p. 1535. Mr. Ames purchased a copy at Dr .
Evans's sale for 3/. 14s.
38 W I C K L I F F I.
fpjrt, 1 7 5 3, 4 to. 2." Wickiif 's Wicket, or, a learned and godly
treatise of the Sacrament," Nor im berg, 1546, 8vo, and Ox*
ford, 1612, 4to. 3. " The pathway to perfect knowledge,
or WicklinVs Prologue to the Bible/' published by Robert
Crowley, i'550, l2mo. 4. " The dore of the Holy Scrip-
ture?" I 540, 8vo. 5. " JJe Christianorum . villi catione,"
iqt JCnglisb, published in 1582, under the name of R. Wi<n?
Vledon. 6. " A Complaint of John Wickliffe, exhibited to
the king and parliament," 7. " A Treatise of John Wick-
liffe against t^e orcjer of Friars.*' These* two were pub-
lished together at Oxford in 1608, 4to, by Dr. James, from,
(wo TVJS copies, one in Bene't college, Cambridge, the
other in the Bodleian library. 8. " Why popr Priests have
no Benefice^," published by Mr. Lewis in bis lire of Wick-
liffe, who hps also published there, his Determination,
Confessions, apd large extracts from his wprks remaining
in MS. together with bis New Testament. His opinions
are also particularly detailed in Dr. Thomas James's " ApQ-
Jogie for Jotjn Wickliffe, shewing his conformitie witji the
new Church of England ;" collected chiefly out of his MS
works in the $ocUpian library, ^nd printed at Oxford, 1608,
4to, now very scarce.
We have mentioned J.ewjs's edition of WicklirTe's New
f estament. Of this a new, elegant, and very correct se*
pond edition was published in 1810 by the rev, Henry Her-
vey Baber, M. A. F. R. S. librarian of printed books iu the
British museum, in a 4Jo vplume. To this are prefixed
"Mepojrs pf the Life, opinions,, aud writings" of Wick*
]i£fe' to whicfi wp wquld refpr our readers for mud} original
information and ingenious research ; and a very learned
" Historical appount of the Saxon and English yersions of
thi^Scriptures, previous, tp the opening of the fifteenth
perjury." It was the intention of this excellent editor to
have attempted an edition of Wickliffe's translation of die
Old Testament, but no sufficient encouragement, we add
with surprise apd shame, h?s yef been offered to so import-
ant an additipn to our translations of the Holy Scriptures. l -
WICQUE^ORT (Abraham j>E)f famous for his em-
bassies and his writings, was a Hollander, smd born in 1598;
put it is not certain at what place, though some h?we men-
tioned Amsterdam. He left his country v^ry young, and
v * Lewis's Life of Wickliffe.— Bauer's Life prefixed to the New Testament.—.
Sky. Brit— Fuller's Ch. Hiftory.-Gjlpio'i Life of Wjckliffe.-^Wowi'i Anpafc,
WIC^QUEFORT, S9
went, and settled in France, where be applied himself di-
ligently to political studies, and sought to advance himself
by political services. Having made himself ^mown to the
elector of Brandenburg, this prince appointed him his re-
sident at the court of France, about *626 ; and he pre-
served this post twor-and-thirty years, that is, till 1658.
Then he fell into disgrace with cardinal Mazarin, who never
had much esteem for him, and particularly disliked bis at-
tachment to the house of Condi. The cardinal accused
him of having sent secret intelligence to Holland and other
places ; and he was ordered to leave the court and the kingr
dom : but, before he set out, he was seized and sent tQ
the 'Bastille. M. le Tellier wrote at the same time to the
elector of Brandenburg, to justify the action ; which be did
by assuring him that his minister was an intelligencer in
the pay of several princes. The year after, however (1659),
he was set at liberty, and escorted by a guard to Calais ;
whence be passed over to England, and thence to Holland*
There De Witt, the pensionary, received him affectionately,
and protected him powerfully : he had indeed been the
victim of De Witt, with wboA he had carried on. a secret
correspondence, which was discovered by intercepted let*
ters. He reconciled himself afterwards to France, and
heartily espoused its interests ; whether out of spite to the
prince of Orange, or from some other motive; and the
count d'Estrades reposed the utmost confidence in him.
For the present, the duke of Brunswic-Lunenburg made
him bis resident at the Hague ; 9nd be was appointed* he-
sides this, secretary-interpreter of the States. Gepejral for
foreign dispatches.
. The ministry of De Witt being charged with great events,
the honour of the commonwealth, as well as of the pen-
sionary, required that they should be written; and Wicque-
fort was selected as the properest person for such a work.
He wrote this history under the inspection, as well as pro-
tection, of the pensionary, who furnished him with such
memoirs as he wanted, and he had begun the printing of
it when, being accused of holding secret correspondence
with the enemies of the States, he was made prisoner at
the Hague in Mareh 1676 ; and, November following, con-
demned to perpetual imprisonment, and to the forfeiture
of all his effects. His son published this sentence in Qer-
many the year after,, with remarks, which he addressed to
the plenipotentiaries assembled then at Nimeguen to treat
4$ W I O Q U E > O B T.
pF peace : but these powers did not think proper to meddle
with the affair, Wicqfuefort amused . himself with conti*
noing his hisQpry of the United Provinces, which he inters
Spersed, as was natural for a mair in bit situation, with
satirical strokes, not only against. the prince of Grange,
whom he personally bated, but also against the government
Md the court of justice who had condemned him. This
work was published at the Hague in 1719, with this title,
f4 L'Htstoire des Provinces Unies des Pays-Bas, depuis le
paifait 6taMissement de cet Etat par la Pass de Munster:''
it contains 1 174 pages in folio, 246 of which were printed
pff when the author was thrown into prison.
He continued under restraint till 1679, and then con-*
trived to escape by the assistance of one of bis daughters,
jrbo ran the risk of her own liberty in order to procure his*
By exchanging clothes with the lady, he went out, and
look refnge at the court of the duke of Zell ; from which
he withdrew in 1681, disgusted, because that prince would
not act with more zeal in procuring bis sentence to be re-
versed at the Hpgue* it is not known what became of him
fjfeer; but He is said to have died in 1682. His f* L'Am*
bassadeur et ses Fonctions," primed at the Hague, 168l£
in 2 vols. 4to, is his principal work, and is a very curious
miscellany of facts and remarks, the latter not always pro-
found, but often useful. He published also in 1677, du«
ring his imprisonment, " M6moires toucbant les Ambassa*
deurs et les tylinistres publics.91 He translated some books
of trayels from the German into French ; and also from the
8panisb, " L'Ambassadp de P. Garcias de 8tlva Figuerea
en Perse, cont^nant la Politique de ce grand Empire," &c.
These works, which Wicquefort was at the pains to trans-
late, are said to contain many curious and interesting
things. *
WIDDRINGTON (Sir Thomas), an eminent lawyer,
and speaker of the Hpose of Commons, during the usur?
palion, was of an ancient fyp>ily in Northumberland, and
was educated partly at Oxford and partly at Cambridge.
He afterwards entered of Gray's-inn, to ftudy the law,
in which he advanced with considerable rapidity, and was
chosen recorder, first of Berwick-upon-Tweed, and se*
condly of York. He was knighted by Charles L in 1639
it York, and, as recorder, congratulated bis paajfsty both"
* Jticeron, vol. XXX^n.— Moreri.— Diet. Hitt
WIDDRINGTOK 41
it York and Berwiok, urban he was on his way to be crowed
king of Scotland. Both bis addresses on this Occasion am
laid to hare been perfectly courtly and even fulsome, but
he was soon to change hit style as well as his opinions.
Being returned member of parliament for Berwick, he be-
came a warm advocate for the liberty then contested;
avowed himself in religion, one of the independent sect,
and took the covenant. In June 1647, he was so much a
favourite with the parliament that they appointed him one
of the commissioners of the great seal, which office be was
to retain for one year, but held it till the king's death. The
parliament also named him, in Oct. 1648, one in their call
of seijeants, and soon after declared him king's seijednt.
Bot far as he had gone wkh the usurping powers, he was
by no means pleased with the commonwealth form of go*
▼eminent, and immediately after the king's death, sur-
rendered his office of keeper of the great sea), first upon
the plea of bad health, and when that was not allowed, he
set up some scruples of conscience. The parliament, how-
ever, as he continued to allow their authority, in requital of
his former services, ordered that he should practice within
the bar, and gave him a quarter's salary more than was due.
His merit also recommended him to Cromwell, who heaped
honours and great employments upon him. In April 1654,
he was appointed a commissioner of the great seal and a
commissioner of the treasury, for which be received a
salary of 1000/. ; and all his conscientious scrapie* seemed
now at an end. In August of the same year, be was elected
member of parliament for the city of York ; and in the
following year, became a committee-man for ejecting scan*
dalous ministers in the north riding of that county.
In 1656, he represented both Northumberland and the
city of York in parliament, and being chosen Speaker, was
approved by Cromwell. His salary as speaker was 1929/.
besides Si. for every private act, and the like sum for every
stranger made a free denizen ; when ill he appointed White-
lock for his deputy, as we noticed in the life of that states-
man. In June 1658 he was appointed lord chief baron of
the exchequer, and in Jan. 1660, one of the council of state
and a Commissioner of the great seal. He was returned both
for Berwick and York in' the parliament called in this year,
and by some interest in the court of the restored khig,
Charles II. he was included in the call of Serjeants, June 1,
1660. It was thought somewhat singular, and even mean
43 VlDDRIN GTO N.
that be should have submitted to this, as he bad so long
borne tbat title, bad filled high offices in the state, was by
no means a young man, and was possessed of a considerable
fortune. With regard to bis fortuue, however, be had suf-
fered some loss. He and Thomas Coghill, esq. bad pur-
chased the manor of Crayke, belonging to Durham- cathe-
dra], which was now ordered to revfert to the church again.
On the other hand, as some compensation, he was appointed
temporal chancellor for life of tbat bishopric. He died May
13, 1664, and was buried in the chancel of St. Giles's in the
fields, where a handsome monument agairist the north wall
was placed by bis four surviving daughters, ten yeara after,
but it does not now exist. Although sir Thomas had drank
deep in the spirit of the times, we are told tbat his great
abilities were only equalled by his integrity, and it was pro*
bably the latter which procured him favour after the resto-
ration. He married Frances, daughter of lord Fairfax, of
Cameron, and sister of lord Fairfax, the. parliamentary ge-
neral; she died in 1649, and likewise lies buried in St.
Qiles's.
Mr. Noble, from whose " Memoirs of Cromwell1' we have
borrowed the above account, says that sir Thomas published
in 1660 " Analecta Eborensw> or some remains of the an-
cient city of York," &c. but this is a mistake. He only left
a MS. account, under the title of " Analecta Eboractntia :
or some remains of the ancient city of York, collected by
a citizen of York." Mr. Gougb informs us that the above
MS. was in the hands of Thomas Fairfax of Menston, esq;
Sir Thomas began bis researches in Charles Ps time, and
after the restoration offered to print this work, and dedicate
it to the city of York, who seem to have refused it on ac-
count of the indifference he shewed to their interests when
he represented them in Cromwell's parliament. Upon this
he is said to have expressly forbid his descendants to pub-
lish it. Besides the Menston MS. there was another copy
at Durham, in the Sbaftoe family, one of whom married a
daughter of the author, Mr. Drake had the use of one among
the city records, and another from sir Richard Smyth of St*
Edmund's Bury, which he thinks was prepared by the au*
thor himself for the press, and might have pasSed through
different hands on the death of lord Fairfax, , and dis-
persion of his effects. Another copy, or perhaps one of
those just mentioned, is among Mr. Gough's topographical
treasures in the Bodleian library. There are some of sir
W I E L A N D, 4S
M
Thomas's public speeches in Rushworth's " Collections,
and others, according to Wood, were printed separately. *
WIDMANSTADIUS, John. See John Albeeti, but
ought to have been placed here, as we ha? e since disco-
vered by Chaufepie. His proper name was John Albert
WlDMANSTADT.
WI ELAND (Christopher Martin), a voluminous Ger-
man writer who has been complimented with the title of
the Voltaire of Germany, was born in 1733, at Biberr.di.
Of bis life no authentic account has, as far as we know,
reached this country, but the following few particulars,
gleaned from various sources, may perhaps be genuine,
Pis father was a clergyman, who gave him a good educa-
tion, $md his attachment to the Muses discovered itself very
early* At the age of fourteen, he wrote a poem on the de-
struction of Jerusalem. Two years after he was sent tp
Erfurt to study the sciences, where be became enamoured
of Sophia de Gusterman, afterwards known by the name of
Madame de la Roche. The youthful lovers swore eternal
fidelity to each other, but Wieland's father thought proper
to interrupt the connection, and sent bis son to Tubingen
to study law. For this he probably bad little inclination,
and employed most of his thoughts and time on poetry,
producing at the age of eighteen an " Art of Love" in the
jpanner of Ovid, and a poem " On the nature of things,"
in which we are told he combined the philosophy of Plato
and Leibnitz. After this he appears to have devoted him-
self entirely to study and writing, and acquired considerable
reputation as a poet of taste and fancy. For some time he
appears to have resided in Swisserland, and in 1760 he re-
turned to his native place, where he was apppinted to the
office of director of the chancery, and during his leisure
hours wrote some of those works which, completely estab-
lished him in the opinion of his countrymen, as one of the
greatest geniuses of the age, and honours were liberally
bestowed upon him. The elector of Mentz made him. pro-
fessor of philosophy and polite literature at Erfurt, and he
was soon after appointed tutor to the two young princes of
Saxe Weimar ; he was also aulic counsellor to the duke,
who gave him a pension ; and counsellor of government to
the elector of Mentz. In 1765 be married a lady at Augs-
9 Ath. Ox. vol. II.— Noble's Memoirs of Cromwell, vol. f. p. 4S7.— Gough't
Topography, and Catalogue of the Library teft to the Bodleian.
44 W I E L A N D.
burgh,- of whom he speaks to highly that we may conclude
he had overcome or moderated his attachment to the object
of hi* first love. In 1808 Bonaparte sent hiin the cross of
the legion of honour, and after the battle of Jena, paftook
Of a repast with Wieland, and, we are gravely told, " con-
versed with him at great length on the folly and horrors of
war and on various projects for the establishment of a per-
petual peace/" Wieland's latter days were employed in
translating Cicero's Letters. A paralysis of the abdominal
viscera was the prelude to bis death, which took place at
Weimar, in January 1813, in the eighty-first year of his
age.
Wieland was the author of a prodigious number of works
(of which there is an edition extending to forty -two vo-
lumes, quarto), both in prose and verse, poems of all
kinds, and philosophical essays, dialogues, tales, &c. Of\
these, the " Oberon," (by Mr. Sotheby's elegaht transla-
tion) the " Agathon," and some others, are not unknown,
although they have never been very popular, in this coun-
try.. In what estimation be is held in his own, may ap-
pear from otie of the many panegyrics which German cri-
tic* have pronounced on his merit : " No modern poet has
written so much, or united so much deep sense with so
much wit, such facility and sweetness. It may be truly
said of htm, that he has gone through the wide domain of
human occupations, and knows all that happens in heaven
and in earth. A blooming imagination and a creative wit ;
a deep, thinking, philosophical mind ; fine and just sense,
and a thorough acquaintance with both the moderns and
ancients, are discernible in all his various writings. He
knows how to make the most abstract, metaphysical ideas
sensible, by the magic of his eloquence ; he can make
himself of all times and all countries ; be observes the cus-
toms of every country, and knows how to join truth with
miracles, sensible with spirited imagery, and romance with
tbe most profound morality. In the ' Agathon9 he seems
a Grecian ; and in the ' Fairy Tales* a knight-errant,
who wanders amidst fairies, vizards, and monsters. All bis
tales abound in portraits, comparisons, and parallels, taken
from old and modern times, full of good sense and truth.
The understanding, the heart, and the fancy, are equally
satisfied.* His verse is easy; there is not a word too
much, or an idle false thought. He is as excellent in co-
mical portraits as in tbe delineations of manners. The
WIELAND. 44
knowledge of Epicurus, the muses of frolic and ittire, of
romance end fairy land ; the solidity of Locke, and the deep
reuse, of Plato ; Grecian eloquence, and Oriental luxuri*
ance> what excites admiration in the writings of the best
masters1 are united in his immortal works." Such is the
opinion of his countrymen ; to which, however, it is our
duty to add, that in many of his works the freethinking*
system is predominant, and that the moral tendency of
others is very doubtful. l
WICK (John), an able physician, called in Latin
Wfgnua, and sometimes Pjscinarius, was born in 1515, at
(f rave, o\\ the Meuse, in the duchy of Brabant, of a noble
family. He studied philosophy under the famous Henry
Cornelius Agrippa ; made several voyages even to Africa,
but returned again into Europe, and was physician to the
duke of Cfeves during thirty years. Wier had so strong a
constitution, that he frequently passed three or four days
without eating ©r drinking, and found not the least incon*
venience from it, H* died suddenly Feb. 4, 1588^ at
Tccklenbourg, a German town in the circle of Westphalia,
in the seventy-third year of his age. His works were printed
at Amsterdam, 4 660, one volume, quarto, which includes
hi* treatise " De Prestigiis et Incantationibus," translated
into French, by James Grevin 1577, 8ve. He maintains
in this work, that those accused of witchcraft were persons
whose brain was disordered by melancholy, whence they
imagined falsely, and without any reason, that tbey bad
dealings with the devil, and were therefore deserving of
pity rjuher than of punishment. It seems strange that, with
this opinion, Wier should in other instances give the readiest
eredit to fabulous stories. The above mentioned book made
much noise.'
WIGAND (Johk), a learned divine of the reformed re-
ligion, was born at Mansfeld in Upper Saxony in 1523.
His parents, who were of the middle rank, perceiving his
love of learning, gave him a good education at school,
whence he was sent to the university of Wirtemberg, where
he. studied the arts and languages for about three years ;
atfeadiogf at the same time, the lectures of Luther and
tyelancthon. He became also acquainted with other con-
tributor* to the reformation, as Cruciger, Justus Jonas, 6ta.»
1 Diet. Hift —Gent. Ms*. Ice. fee. . v
* ^by Diet. Hist, de Medicine.— Diet. Hist.
* .
V
46 WI&A^lJ.
t
and heard the Greek lectures of Vitus. In 1541, by the?
fedvice of bis tutors and friends, be went to Noriberg,
where he was made master of St. Lawrence-school, and
taught there for three years ; but being desirous of adding
to his own knowledge, under the ablest instructors, he re-
turned to Wirtemberg again* There he commenced M. A.
before he was twenty-two years old, and begun the study
of divinity, which; he engaged in with great assiduity, until
the events of the war dispersed the students of this univer-
sity. -He then was invited to his native place, Mansfeld,
where he was ordained, and is said to have been the first
who was ordained after the establishment of the Protestant:
religion. Hesoon became a very useful and popularpreacher,
and oh the week-days read lectures to the youth in logic
and philosophy. While here, at the request of the super-
intendent, John Spangenberg, he wrote a confutation of
Sidonius's popish catechism, which was afterwards printed
both in Latin and Dutch. He wrote also a confutation of
George Majors who held that a man is justified by faith/
but not saved, &c. He was one of those who strongly op*
posed the Interim.
His great delight, in the way of relaxation from his more
serious engagements, was in his garden, in which he
formed a great collection of curious plants. Haller men-
tions his publication " De succino Borussico, de Alee, de
Herbis Borussicis, et de Sale," 1590, 8vo. which Freher
and other biographers speak of as three distinct publica-
tions. In 1553 he was chosen superintendant of Magde-
burg, but the count Mansfeld and his countrymen strongly
opposed his removal from them, yet at last, in consequence-
of the application of the prince of Anhalt, ' consented to it.
A\ Magdeburg, by his preaching and writings he greatly
promoted the reformed religion, and had a considerable hand
in the voluminous collection, entitled " The Magdeburg
Centuries," which Sturmius used to say had four excellent
qualities, truth, research, order, and perspicuity* In 1560,
on the foundation of the university of Jena by the elector of
Saxony, he was solicited by his highness to become pro-1
fessor of divinity, and performed the duties of that office
until some angry disputes between Illyricus and Strigelius
inclined him to resign. He was after a short stay at Mag-<
deburg, chosen, in 1562, to be superintendant at Wismar.
He now took his degree of doctor in divinity at the univer-
sity of Rostock, and remained at Wismar seven years, at
s
W I G A N 0. 4*
the end of which a negotiation was set on foot for his re-
turn to Jena, where he was made professor of divinity and
superintendant. - Five years after he was again obliged to
leave that university, when the elector Augustus succeeded
bis patron the elector William. On this be went to the duke
of Brunswick' who entertained him kindly, and he was soon "
after invited to the divinity -professorship of Konigsberg,
and in two years was ^appointed bishop there. He died
1 587, in the sixty-fourth year of his age. He wrote a pro*
digious number of works, principally commentaries on
different parts of the Bible, and treatises on the contro-
versies with the popish writers. He was esteemed a man
of great learning, a profound theologian and lib (ess esti-
mable in private life. He rankftiigh Among the promoters
of the reformation in Germany.1
. WILCOCKS (Joseph), a late amiable and ingenious
writer, was the only son of Dr. Joseph Wikocks, of whom
we have the following particulars. He waa born in 1673,
and was educated at Magdalen-eollege, Oxford, .where be
formed a lasting friendship wi A Mr. Boulter, • afterwards
primate of Ireland; Mr. WHcocks was chosen • a demy of
his college at the same election with Boulter and Addison,
and from the merit and learning of the elect, this was com-
monly called by Dr. Hougb, president of the college,
" the golden election." He was ordained by bishop Sprat,
and while a young man, went chaplain to the -English fac-
tory at Lisbon ; where, as in all the other scenes of his '
life, he acquired the public love and esteem, and was long
remembered with grateful respect. While here, such was'
his sympathy and his courage, that although he had not
then had the small-pox, yet when that dreadful malady
broke out in the factory, he constantly attended the sick
and dying. On bis return to England, be Was appointed
chaplain to George I. and preceptor to his royal grand-
daughters, the children of George II. He also had a pre-
bend of Westminster, and in 1721 was made bishop of
Gloucester, the episcopal palace of which he repaired,
which for a considerable time before had stood uninhabited;
and thus he became the means of fixing the residence of
future bishops in that see. In 1731 he was translated to
the bishopric of Rochester, with which he held the deanry .
of Westminster. Seated in this little diocese, he declined
1 Melobior Adftfn.— • Freheri Thcatjrum — *^axii Ooomast*
48 W I L C O C K S.
any higher promotion, even that of the Archbishopric of
York, frequently using the memorable expression of bi-
shop Fisher, one of his predecessors, "Though this my
wife be poor, I must not think of changing her for one
more opulent." The magnificence of the west-front of
Westminster-abbey, during his being dean, is recorded as
a splendid monument of bis zeal for promoting public
works, in suitable proportion to his station in life. He
would doubtless have been equally zealous in adorning
and enlarging his cathedral at Rochester, bad there T>een
grouqd to hope for national assistance in that undertaking ;
but its episcopal revenues were very inadequate to the ex-
pence. He was constantly resident upon his diocese, and
from the fatigue of bis last Visitation there, he contracted
the illness which terminated his life by a gradual decay,
March 9, 1756, aged eighty-three. He was buried in a
vault in Westminster-abbey, under the consistory court,
which he had built the year before, by permission from the
Chapter. His son erected a monument for him next to
that of Dr. Peeree. He married Jane, the daughter of
John Milner, esq. sometime bis Britannic majesty's consul
at Lisbon, who died in her twenty-eighth year. By her
he bad Joseph, the more immediate subject of the present
article.
Mr. Joseph Wilcocks was born in Pean's-yard, West-
minster, Jan. 4, 1723, during the time his father was bi-
shop of Gloucester, and a prebendary of Westminster. In
1736 he was admitted upon the foundation at Westminster-
school, whence be was elected to Christ-church, Oxford
in 1740, and proceeded regularly to the degree of M. A,
in 1747. He very early distinguished himself at college,
and obtained the second of three prizes before the end of
the year he entered, the first of them being gained by his
friend and contemporary, Mr. Markham, afterwards arch*
bishop of York. As his estate was. considerable, he chose
no particular profession, but devoted his property* to vari-
ous acts of beneficence, and his time to study. He was
particularly attentive to biblical learning, and to every
thing that could promote the cause of piety. His humility
and diffidence were carried rather to an extreme ; and from
the same excess in the sensibility of his conscientious feel-
irjgs, he forebore to act as a magistrate, having for a short
time undertaken it as a justice, in the county of Berks.
Having in early life paid his addresses to a lady whom his
W1LCOCK8.
49
ft
father deemed it imprudent for . him to marry in point ©f
circumstances, he submitted to parental authority, but
continued unmarried ever after.
His mode of life, however, though exemplary in the
highest degree, in point of conduct, is not one of those
that furnish many or striking events ; and we cannot better
hold forth that example to the imitation of others, than in
the following artless narrative of one of his old servants.
" One of his very amiable qualities was to consider him-
self as a citizen of the world, and mankind in general as
his brethren and friends ; consequently, he endeavoured to
do them all the good in bis power. I think I may also
safely say, the 'great rule of bis life and conduct was to be
a true disciple and follower of all the beneficent actions of
our Saviour, and to interweave bis examples into his daily
exercise and practice. He used to rise early, and was a
very great (Economist of his time; labouring to keep a
most exact account of all his domestic concerns, and every
thing that belonged tp his receipts and expenditure. Even
his numerous gifts and charities, I believe, were daily
committed to paper, and all looked over in the evening,
and balanced, noting every error and deficiency ; and if
he did not perceive be had done one or more acts of charity
and beneficence, be thought he had lost a day. He w*s
the most dutiful and affectionate son, the most kindnepbew,
cousin, or relation to all who stood in any degree of kin-
dred. To servants, workmen, and tenants, the most gentle
and beneficent ; and to his poor neighbours an affectionate *
father, paying for schooling for their children, and even
erecting schools, which is, perhaps, too well known to re-
quire mentioning. When travelling, he would inquire at
the inns, who was in sickness or necessity in the place*
leaving money for their relief. He frequently released
debtors from prison, and had great charity to beggars.
He frequently sent medical assistance to the sick, and gave
large sums to hospitals; when abroad, he gave large sums
also to poor convents, and to the necessitous of all coun-
tries and religions. He was always ready to assist every
increase or improvement of learning, witness the very large *
and laborious share he took in assisting the collation of the
Hebrew text of the Bible, by opening many of the foreign .
Jibraries in Europe, through his interest and labour, and
employing professors to collate at his own ex pence. His
humanity to the brute creation was very great, and his
Vol. XXXII. E
W I L C O C K 8.
tenderness even to insects. He preserved a reverential re-
spect for the place of his nativity, for the places where he
had received his education, and for those who had been
companions of his youth ; likewise for the memory of those
who had been in any way instrumental in forming bis mo-
rals and perfecting bis learning ; and this was preserved
even to their friends and posterity."
These, and many other acts of beneficence, both of a
public and private nature, the latter always performed
with the utmost delicacy, are specified at large in the very
interesting memoirs prefixed to the last edition of bis
" Roman Conversations," by Mr. Bickerstafi, the successor
of Mr. Brown, the bookseller, to whom he bequeathed that
edition* with an express provision, " to indemnify him
from anjr loss which might be incurred by the expences of
the first edition." His classical taste, contracted by long
reading, led him to Italy, and it appears to have been in
the once ". metropolis of the world," that he laid the foun-
dation of the " Roman Conversations," his principal work,
which may justly be recommended to the young, and in-*
deed to readers in general. In it he separates the truth of
Roman history from the errors which disfigure it, bestow-
ing just praise on the real patriots of Rome, and equally
just censure on those whose patriotism was only feigned ;
and distinguishing between the insidious arts of dema-
gogues, and the integrity of true friends to the public. In
nice investigations of character, he appears to be free
from prejudice, attentive to truth, and often strikingly
original in his remarks. The chief defect is a want of re-
gard to style, and a prolixity of remark and digression,
which perhaps will be more easily pardoued by the old
than the young, for whom the work was chiefly calculated ;
yet it is a work which cannot fail to be perused by every
student of Roman history with the greatest advantage. It
is calculated to excite religious and moral reflections on
that history, and to adapt and direct the study of it to the
best and wisest purposes of a Christian education.
In the " Carmina Quad ragesira alia" are many good
verses written by Mr. Wilcocks, who also was the compiler
of the H Sacred Exercises," now in use at Westminster-
school. We are not informed of any other publication
from his pen, except a little piece in the Philosophical
Transactions, vol. liii. entitled " An Account of some sub-
terraneous Apartments, with Etruscan Inscriptions) and
W I L C O C K S. Si
paintings, discovered at CivitaTurchino, in Italy." These,
we are told, were explored as here described, at the sole
expence of our author^
Mr. Wilcocks died, of repeated attacks of the palsy,
Dec. 23, 1791, at the close of his sixty-ninth year. He
left behind him the " Roman Conversations" prepared for
the press. They were composed by him, indeed, at an
early period of his present majesty's reign ; but modest
diffidence would not allow him to publish them in his life*
time, otherwise than by printing off a few copies, which he
distributed among his intimate., friends. With the hope,'
however, that the work might be more extensively useful,
and particularly to younger minds, he gave directions that
it should appear soon after his decease. Accordingly, in
May 1792, the first volume was published ; but, in conse-
quence of a written injunction left by the worthy author,
the second volume did not come out until a year after:
In 1797, a new and much corrected edition was published
by Mr. Bickerstaff, with memoirs of the author, to which
we are indebted for the preceding sketch. Many particu-
lars of Mr. Wilcocks's life are evidently, although under
some disguise, interwoven in his " Roman Conversations." *
WILD (Henry), a tailor, who, from an extraordinary
love of study, became a professor of the Oriental lan-
guages, was born in the city of Norwich about 1684, where
he was educated at a grammar-school till he was almost
qualified for the university ; but his friends, wanting for-
tune and interest to maintain him there, bound him ap-
prentice to a tailor, with whom he served seven years,' add
afterwards worked seven years more as a journeyman.
About the end*of the last seven years, he was seized with
a fever and ague, which continued with him two or three
years, and at Jast reduced him so low as to disable him
from working at his trade. In this situation he amused
himself with some old books of controversial divinity, in
which he found great stress laid on the Hebrew original
of several texts of scripture; and, though'he had almost
lost the learning he had obtained at school, his strong de-
sire of knowledge excited him to attempt to make himself
master of that language. He was at first obliged to make
use of an English Hebrew grammar and lexicon; but, by
1 Memoirs ai above.— Brit Crit vok II. for 1793. — Maaniaf and Brajr't J
HUt of Surrey, vol. I. ~.
i ...
£2 . .
52 .WILD,
degrees, recovered the knowledge of the Latin tongue,
which he had learned at school. On the recovery, of his
health, he divided his time between his business and hit
studies, which last employed the greatest part of bis nights.
Thus, self-taught, and assisted only by his great genius,
he, by dint of continual application, added to the know*
ledge of the Hebrew that of all or most of the oriental lan-
guages, but still laboured in obscurity, till at length he
was accidentally discovered. The worthy Dr. Prideanx,
dean of Norwich, being offered some Arabic manuscripts
in parchment, by a bookseller of that city, thinking, per-
haps, that the price demanded for them was too great,
declined buying them ; but, soon after, Mr. Wild bearing
of them, purchased them ; and the dean, on calling at the
shop and inquiring for the manuscripts, was informed of
their being sold. Chagrined at this disappointment, he
asked of the bookseller the name and profession of the per-
son who had bought them ; and, being told he was a tailor,
he bad him instantly to run and fetch them, if they were
not cut in pieces to make measures : but he was soon re-
lieved from his fears by Mr. Wild's appearance with the
manuscripts, though, on the dean's inquiring whether he
would part with them, he answered in the negative. The
dean then asked hastily what he did with them: he replied,
that he read them. He was desired to read them, which
he did. He was then bid to render a passage or two into
English, which he readily performed, and with great ex-
- actness. Amazed at this, the dean, partly at his own ex-
pence, and partly by a subscription raised among persona
whose inclinations led them to this kind of knowledge, sent
him to Oxford ; where, though he was never a member. of
the university, be was by the dean's interest admitted into
the Bodleian library, and employed for soma years in
translating or making extracts out of Oriental manu-
scripts, and thus bad adieu to bis needle. This appears
to bare been some time before 1718. At Oxford, he, was
known by the name of the Arabian tailor. He constantly
attended the library all the hours it was open, and,, wbeti
it was shut, employed most of his leisure-time hi teaching
the Oriental languages to young gentlemen, at the mo-,
derate price of half a guinea a lesson, except for the Ara-
bic, for which he bad a guinea, and his subscriptions for
teaching amounted to no more than 20 or 30/. a year. Un-
happily for him, the branch of learning in which he ex-
WILB. sa
celled was cultivated bat by few; and the reverend jdr.
Gagnier, a Frenchman, skilled in the Oriental tongues,
was in possession of all the favours the university could be*
stew in this way, being recommended by the heads of col-
leges to instruct young gentlemen, and employed by the
professors of those languages to read public lectures in
their absence.
Mr. Wild's person was thin and meagre, and his stature
moderately tall. He had an extraordinary memory ; and,
as his pupils frequently invited him Co spend an evening
with them, be would often entertain them with long and
curious details out of the Roman, Greek, and Arabic, his*
tories. His morals were good ; he was addicted to no vice,
but was sober, temperate, modest, and diffident of himself,
without the least tincture of vanity. About 1720 he re*
moved to London, where he spent th# remainder of his life
under the patronage of Dr. Mead. When he died is not //Z/^fj
known, but in 1734, which is supposed to have been
after bis death, was published his translation from the Ara-
bic of " Mahomet's Journey to Heaven," which is the only
piece of bis that was ever printed. The writer of his life
informs us that it was once suspected that be was a Jesuit
in disguise, but for this there appears to have been no
foundation. Before be went to Oxford, we have the fol-
lowing notice respecting him- in a letter from Dr. Turner
to Dr. Charlett, dated Norwich, March 4, J 7 1 4. '* A tay-
lor of this town, of about thirty years of age, has within
seven years, mastered seven languages, Latin, Greek,
Hebrew, Chaldaic, Syriac, Arabic, and Persic. Mr. Pro-
fessor Ockley being here since Christmas has examined
him, and given him an ample testimonial in writing of his »
skill in the Oriental languages. Our dean also thinks him
very extraordinary. But he is very poor, and his landlord
lately seized a Polyglot Bible (which he had made shift to
purchase) for rent. But there is care taken to clear his
debts, and if a way could be thought of to make him more
useful, I believe we could get a subscription towards part
of his maintenance." This we find by the above narrative
was accordingly done.1
WILD (Robert), a nonconformist divine, poet, and
wit, was born at St. Ives in Huntingdonshire in 1609, and
was educated at the. university of Cambridge. In 1642 he
* XJenU Mag. vol, XXV.—" Letters by Eminent Persons, " 3 vols. 8yo* 1811.
S4 WILD. t
yify created bachelor of divinity at Oxford, and, probably
.had the degree of doctor there also, as he was generally
called Dr. Wild. In 1646 he was appointed rector of
Aynho in Northamptonshire, in the room of Or. Longman,
ejected by the parliamentary visitors ; and on this occa-
sion Calamy's editor gives us one of his witticisms. He
and another divine had preached for the living, and Wild
-being asked whether he or hi* competitor had got it, he
answered " We have divided it ; I have got the AY, and
lie the NO." Wood says he was. " a fat, jolly, and boon
presbyterian," but Calamy asserts that those who knew
him commended him not only for his facetiousness, but
.also his strict temperance and sobriety ; and he was serious,
where seriousness was wanted. He was ejected from
Aynho at the restoration. He died at Oundle, in North*
amptonshire in 1679, aged seventy. His works afford a
curious mixture. 1. "The tragedy of Christopher Love
at Tower-hill,19 Lond. 1660, a poem in one sheet 4to.
2. "Jter Boreale, attempting something upon the success-
ful and matchless march of the L Gen. George Monk
from Scotland to London," ibid. 1660, 4to, in ridicule of
the republican party. This was at that time a favourite
subject, and Wood mentions three other Iter Boreale' s by
Eades, Corbet, and Master. 3. €t A poem on the impri-
sonment of Mr. Edmund Calamy in Newgate," 1662,
printed on a broad sheet, which produced two similar broad-
sheets in answer, the one " Antiboreale, an answer to a
jewd piece of poetry upon Mr. Calamy, &c." the other
" Hudibras on Calamy's imprisonment and Wild's poetry .'•
These, with his Iter Boreale, and other pieces of a similar
♦ cast and very indifferent poetry, but with occasional
flashes of genuine humour, were published together in
1668 and 1670. Wood mentions "The Benefice, a co-
medy," written in his younger years, but not printed till
1689. Wood adds, that there " had like to have been'* a
poetical war between Wild and Flax man, but how it ter-
minated he knows not. Wild had the misfortune to have
some of his poems printed along with some of lord Roches-
ter's. He has a few sermons extant.1
' WILDBORE (Charles), an ingenious mathematician,
was born in Nottinghamshire, and educated at the Blue
1 Ath. Oi. vol. II.— Calamy by Palmer. — Keiiitula, vol. L where it an ax*
tract Iron bit " Iter Boreale."
W I L D B O R E. 35
Coat school of Nottingham. Of his early history we have
little information* but it appears tbat he kept an academy
at Bingham, in the above county, for some years, and
afterwards was preferred to the living of Sulney, where he
died at an advanced age, Oct. 30, 1802. In his latter days
be had a remarkably strong and retentive memory, as a
proof of which, he told a friend that he made a common
practice of solving the most abstruse questions in the ma-
thematics without ever committing a single 6gure, &c. to
paper till finished ; and, upon its being observed " bow
much pen and paper might assist him I" he replied, " I
have to thank God for a most retentive memory ; and so
long as it is enabled to exercise its functions, it shall not
have any assistance from art." When his mind was occu-
pied * in close study, he always walked to and fro in an
obscure part of his garden, where be could neither see nor
be seen of any one, and frequently paced, in this manner,
several miles in a day.
Though so skilful in mathematics, he did not favour the
world with any separate publication bearing his own name,
and often used the signature of Eumenes ; but he poured
much light upon the regions of science through the medium
of those periodical publications which are chiefly devoted
to mathematical researches. He contributed a number of
valuable articles to Martin' 9 " Miscellaneous Correspond-
ence," between the years 1755 and 1763, particularly ah
excellent paper, in which be made it his business to prove
that the moon's orbit was always concave, with respect to
the sun. He began his contributions to the " Gentleman's
Diary" in 1759, when that performance was conducted by
Mr. T. Peat. In the same year be commenced his com-
.murjications to the '* Ladies' Diary," which was edited by.
professor Simpson, of Woolwich. In 1773 and 1774 be
carried op a spirited but amicable controversy, in Dr. Hut-
ton's " Miscellanea Mathematica," with Mr. John Dawson,
of Sedbergb, a gentleman well knpwn at Cambridge, and
the tutor of many pupils who have been senior- wranglers
of that university. The subject of this controversy was
"the velocity of w&ter issuing from a vessel when put in
motion." In 1780 his friend Dr. Hutton procured for him
the editorship of the " Gentleman's Diary," an honqiir
which he had long wished to attain, and he was highly gra-
tified by the circumstance. From that period his valuable
communications to this publication always appeared under
56 WILDBORE.
the character of Eumeues, and chose in the Ladies9 Diary
under that of Amicus. The prize-question in the Diary
for 1803 is by Mr. Wildbore, and is a very curious and in-
tricate question in the diophantine algebra.
.At an early period of life he was a reviewer of the Philo-
sophical Transactions, in which trust, as well as several
others committed to his care and inspection, he so well ac-
quitted himself, that he was solicited to become a member of
the royal society ; bat this honour he very modestly de-
clined, in a letter to the then president, remarking, amongst
other things, " that his ambition had never led him to visit
the metropolis ; and if he accepted the honour of being
one of that learned society, he should wish, not to be a
passive, but an active member ; to be which he supposed
that it would be necessary for him to come forward m the
world, which he had not the least inclination to do, pre-
ferring bis village retirement, infinitely beyond the4 busy
hum of men,9 and to be styled ' the bumble village pas-
tor,9 without the addition of the initials F. R. S." He was
intimately acquainted, by correspondence, with many learn-
ed men (for he scarcely ever saw any of them), particularly
with Dr. Hutton, for whom he entertained a very high
esteem. '
WILDE, or WYLD (John), a lawyer, and a very pro-
minent character during the usurpation, was the eldest son
of a lawyer, as bis father is said to have been serjeant George
Wilde of Droitwich, in Worcestershire. He was of Baliol
college, Oxford, and in 1610, when he took his degree of
M, A. was a student in the Inner Temple. . Of this society
he became Lent reader 6 Car. I. afterwards a serjeant at
law, one of the commissioners of the great seal in 1643,
and in Oct. 1648, chief baron of the exchequer, and one
of the council of state. In 1641 he drew up the impeach-
ment against the bishops, and presented it to the House
of Lords, and was prime manager not only in that, but on
the trial of archbishop Laud. "He was the same aho,"
says Wood, " who, upon the command, or rather desire,
of the great men sitting at Westminster, did condemn to
death at Winchester one captain John Burley, for causing
a drum to be beat up for God and king Charles, at New-*
port, in the Isle of Wight, in order to rescue his captive
i Gent. Mag. toI. LXXI1,
WILDE. 57
king in 1647." Wood adds, that after the execution of
Burley, Wilde was rewarded with 1000/. out of the privy
purse at Derby-house, and had the same sum for saving
the life of major Edmund Rolph, who had a design to have
murdered the king. When Oliver became protector " he
retired and acted not/' but after Richard Cromwell had
been deposed he was restored to the exchequer. On the
restoration he was of course obliged to resign again, and
lived in retirement at Hampstead, where he died about
1669, and was buried at Wherwill, in Hampshire, the
seat of Charles lord Delawar, who had married his daughter.
Wilde married Anne, daughter of sir Thomas Harry, of
Tonge castle, serjeant at law and baronet, who died in
1624,: aged only sixteen, " being newly delivered of her
first born." She lies buried in Tonge church, in Staf-
fordshire.
Such are the particulars Wood has given of this lawyer,
and they are in general supported by Clarendon and other
contemporary authorities, and attempted to be contra-
dicted only byOldmixon and Neal. Oldmixon's evidence
will not be thought to weigh much against Clarendon's.
Neal calls him " A great lawyer, and of unblemished mo-,
rals ; and after the restoration of king Charles II. was made
lord chief baron, and esteemed a grave and venerable
judge." But it is grossly improbable that such a man
should have been thus promoted, and it is besides ex-
pressly contrary to fact, for sir Orlando Bridge man was
chief baron at the trial of the regicides, and was succeeded
by judge Hale. It was the rump parliament only who be-
stowed the honour on Wilde.
Neal, perhaps, we know others have, confounded his
favourite hero, serjeant Wilde, which was his only legiti-
mate title, with sir William Wild, who was recorder of
London in 1659, created a baronet Sept. 13, 1660, ap-
pointed king' 8 serjeant Nov. 10, 1661, and made one of
the justices of the common pleas in 1668. He was ad-
vanced to be a justice of the court of king's bench Jan. 21,
1672. In 1661 and 1674 he published " Yelverton's Re-
ports," in French. He died Nov. 23, 1679, leaving issue
sir Felix Wilde, of fit. Clement Danes, in Middlesex, ban.
The title is now extinct. Sir William Wilde was indeed
"a grave and venerable judge," and it must not be forgot
to his honour, that, because he disbelieved the evidence
58 WILKES.
of the perjured Bedloe, in the popish plot, he was de-
prived of his office a few months before his death. '
WILKES (John), a very singular political character in
the earl) part of the presept reign, was born Oct. 17, 1727,
O. s. in St. John's street, Clerkenwell, where his father,
Nathaniel, carried on in a very extensive way the trade
of a distiller, and lived in the true style of ancient English
hospitality, to which both he and his lady were always par*
ticularly attentive. Their house was consequently much
frequented, particularly by many characters of distin-
guished rank in the commercial and literary world- It was
in such society that their son John imbibed that taste for
letters which he continued to cultivate through life. His
education, therefore, though liberal, was domestic ; and,
though not severe, yet sufficiently sober. . His philosophy
(that of enjoying the world, and passing laughingly through
it) was all his own, and adopted in compliance with his
view of human nature. And this he was himself very will-
ing to have believed. His parents (one of them at least)
were not of the church of England ; and Mr. Wilkes hav-
ing passed his school years partly at Hertford, and partly
in Buckinghamshire, was sent, not to either of our English
universities, but with a private tutor, to the university of
Leyden, where his talents attracted much notice.
In 1749 he married Miss Mead, heiress of the Meads
of Buckinghamshire, from which marriage probably ori-
ginated his connection with that county. This lady was
about ten years older than himself, that is, about thirty-
two. Their dispositions, we are told, were perfectly dis-
similar, yet he treated her for a time with decent respect*
Afterwards he became quite alienated from her, and a final
separation took place in 17 57. ' So depraved were his mo-
rals, and so destitute was he of a sense of honour, that
amidst the distresses' which his loose pleasures brought
x upon him, he endeavoured to defraud this lady of the an-
nuity stipulated in, the articles of separation ; but this was
prevented by a law-suit. In April 1754, be offered him-
self as a candidate tp represent in parliament the borough
of Berwick, and addressed the electors in terms hot ill
according with that political spirit which afterwards marked
his public conduct. He was not, however, successful, but
* Ath. Ox. vol. t.— Gent. Mag. vol*. LH. LIH. and UV,— Neal's Puritans,
and Giey't Examination, vol. III. — Heylyn'a Ex amen Histortcum. — Clarendon. '
-—Burnet'! Own Times*
W.ILK E S. 59
in July 1757, was elected burgess for Aylesbury, and was
again chosen at the general election in 1761 for the same
place. Before this period he had formed connections with
?arious men of rank, but not of the purest character for
morals, who seem to have admitted him into their society
as a companion who was not likely to4ay them under any
restraint. He had, however, formed some connections of
a better stamp. It appears that, as early as 1754 be was
known to lord Temple, and to Mr. Pitt, afterwards l6rd
Chatham. ♦
In 1762 he began to engage in political discussion. In
March of that year he published " Observations on the
papers relative to the rupture with Spain, laid before both
bouses of parliament on Friday, Jan. 29, 1762." As much
of bis information on this subject was supplied by lord
Temple (who, with Mr. Pitt, had retired from the cabinet
ia consequence of a negative being put upon their propo-
sition for an immediate war with Spain) the success of this
pamphlet is little to be wondered at; , As he did not put
his name to it, it was ascribed to Dr. Douglas, or Mr. Mau-
duit, by the sly suggestions of the real author. In the
beginning of June following he commenced his celebrated
paper called " The North Briton." /The purpose of this
was ostensibly to expose the errors of* the then ministry,
and hold them up to public contempt, but really, to give
the author that sort of consequence: that: might lead to ad-
vantages which his extravagant mode of living had by this
time rendered necessary. We have his own word that he
had determined to take advantage of the times and to make
his fortune, and that he soon formed an idea of what would
silence and satisfy him. " If government," says he, " means
jpeace or friendship with me, I then breathe no longer hos-
tility. And, between ourselves, if they would send me
ambassador to Constantinople, it is all T should wish." —
Again, " It depends on them (the ministry) whether Mr.
Wilkes is their friend or their enemy. If he starts as the
latter, he will lash them with scorpions, and they are al-
ready prepared ; I wish, however, we may be friends ; and
I had. rather follow the plan I had marked out in my letter
frpm Geneva," alluding to the embassy to Constantinople.
In a subsequent letter he says, " If the ministers do not
find employment for me, I am disposed to find employ-
ment for them." In these extracts we have anticipated the
order of tiinf, for they were written in 1764, when he was
60 WILKES.
an exile, but they are necessarily introduced here io unfold
the real character of Mr. Wilkes, and to determine to what
species of patriots he belonged. We see at the same time
here how very near the most popular character of the age
was to dropping into comparative obscurity, and at what a
cheap rate the ministry might hate averted the hostility of
Wilkes, and all its consequences, which we have always
considered as rqore hurtful than beneficial to his country.
In the mean time be went on publishing bis " North
Britons,9' which, although written in an acute and popular
style, and unquestionably very galling to ministers, had
not produced any great commotion, nor seemed likely to
answer the author's purpose. Ministerial writers were em-
ployed to write against him, and in this way a literary war-
fare might have gone on for years, without any of the con-
sequences he expected. One duel, indeed, he had with
lord Talbot, but neither party was hurt, and Wilkes was
not benefited. At length, therefore, he began to think he
had been too tame, or that ministers were become too caU
lous, and with a view *to a provocation, which could not
fail to irritate, he made a rude attack on his majesty in No.
45 of the " North Briton,9' which appeared on the 23d of
April 1763, and on the morning of the 30th Mr. Wilkes was
served by a king's messenger with a general warrant, in
consequence of which he was on the same morning con-
veyed to the Tower. That " a warrant to apprehend and
seize, together with their papers, the authors, printers,
and publishers of a work," without naming who those au-
thors, printers, and publishers were even suspected to be,
has an appearance of illegality, cannot be denied. But in
justice to the secretaries of state who signed it, it should
be remembered, that for a hundred years the practice of
their office had been to issue such ; and that in so doing
tbey did no more than what precedents seemed to justify.
That they did not, however, in this case, act wisely the
event shewed. Upon his commitment to the Tower, an
application was instantly made to the court of common
pleas for his habeas corpus, and he was brought up on the
3d of May. % On the 4th he was dismissed from his situa-
tion as colonel of the Buckinghamshire militia. On the
6th the validity of his warrant of commitment was argued,
his plea -of privilege was allowed, and he was in consequence
discharged. He immediately erected a printing-press in
bis house in George-street, published a narrative of the
WILKES. 61
transactions in which he had been engaged, and renewed
the publication of the " North Briton/' 'He visited Paris
a few months after, and was there challenged, ip the month
of August, by a captain Forbes, who, standing forth as
the champion of Scotland, asked satisfaction of him, as the
editor and conductor of the " Nortb Briton/' for the ca-
lumnies heaped upon his native country. Mr. Wilkes be-
haved on this occasion with much moderation, and declared
himself no prize-fighter. Being again urged, however,
though in terms of politeness, he half complied, but being
in the mean while put under an arrest, he pledged his ho-,
nour not to fight on French ground. When set at liberty
he proceeded to Menin, and there awaited bis challenger,
but no meeting took place;
The winter now advancing, Mr. Wilkes returned to
England, previous to the opening of parliament, and re-
sumed his labours in the " North Briton," which soon after
involved bim in another duel with Mr. Martin, member for
Camelford, and late secretary Ml the treasury. In this
Wilkes received a dangerous wound in the groin ; but ap-
peared in. parliament on the first day of the session, and
bad risen to address the chair of the speaker on the subject
of bis privilege, as a member of that bouse, having been
violated. It bad usually been considered aa the established
custom of parliament to enter upon the discussion of
breaches of privileges before alt other matters. In this in-
stance the custom was overruled, and a message from the
sovereign was conveyed to the commons, informing them,
that J. Wilkes, esq. was the author of a most seditious and
dangerous paper, and acquainting them with the measures
which had been resorted to by the servants of the crown.
The house, the proofs of the libel being entered upon, pro-
ceeded to vote, that No. 45 of the " North Britain" was,
as it had been represented to be, a false, scandalous, and
malieious libel, &c. and it was ordered to be burnt by the
common hangman. A day having been appointed for the
hearing of Mr. Wilkes's defence against the charge of
being the. author of the libel, be thought it proper to ac-
quaint the house of the incapacity occasioned by his
wound, and further time Was in consequence' allowed him.
The bouse, however, suspecting some unnecessary delay,
appointed Dr. Heberden and Mr. Hawkins to attend him,
in addition to his own physician and surgeon ; and further,
ordered them to report the state of his health. Mr. Wilkes
W WILKES.
politely rejected the offer of their visit. The house, hi
said, bad desired! them to visit him, but had forgotten to
desire him to receive them, which he most certainly should
not. At the same time, in vindication of the professional
gentlemen whom he himself had employed, he sent for
Dr. Duncan, one of his majesty's physicians in ordinary,
and Mr. Myddleton, one of bis majesty's serjeaut-surgeons,
humorously telling them, that as the House of Common*
thought it fit that he should be watched, he himself thought
two Scotchmen most proper for his spies. About a week
after he suddenly withdrew to France ; a retreat which
prudence rendered very necessary, his circumstances being
very much involved.
From Paris, where he sought ad asylum, he certified to
the speaker of the House of Commons, by the signatures
of the physician of the king of France, and other gentle-
men, his confinement to his room, and the impossibility,
from his state of health, of his venturing to undertake the
journey back to England. • In the mean time, although the
House of Commons had neglected his complaint of pri-
vilege, be derived bis first considerable triumph from the
verdict found for him in' the court of common pleas. He
had early brought bis action against Robert Wood, esq.'
the under secretary of state, for the seizure of his papers/
as the supposed author of the " North Briton." It was
tried before a special jury dn the 6th of December, and
lOOOl. damages were given. The charge to the jury, de-
livered by lord chief justice Pratt, concluded thus : "This
warrant is unconstitutional, illegal, and absolutely void ;
it is a general warrant, directed to four messengers, to
take up any persons, without naming or describing there-
with any certainty, and to apprehend them together with-
their papers. If it be good, a secretary of state can dele*
gate and depute any of the messengers, or any even from
the lowest of the people, to take examinations, to commit,
or to release, and do every act which the highest judicial
officers the law knows, can do or order. There is no or-
der in our law-books that mentions these kinds of warrants,
but several that in express words condemn them. Upon
tbe-maturest consideration, I am bold to say, that this
warrant is illegal ; but I am far from wishing a matter of
this consequence to rest solely on my opinion ; I am only
one of twelve, whose opinions I am desirous should be
taken in this matter, and I am very willing to allow myself -
WILKES. 43
tb be theAmeanest of the twelve. There is also a still
higher court, before which this matter may be canvassed,
and whose determination is final ; and here I cannot help
observing the happiness of our constitution in admitting
these appeals, in consequence of which, material points
are determined on the most mature consideration, and with
the greatest solemnity. To this admirable delay of the
law (for in this case the law's delay may be st>ied ad-
mirable) I believe it is chiefly owing that we possess the
best digested, and most excellent body of law which any
nation on the face of the globe, whether ancient or modern,
could ever boast. If these higher jurisdictions should de-
clare my op;nion erroneous, I submit, as will become me,
and kiss the rod ; but I must say, 1 shall always consider
it as a rod of iron for the chastisement of the people of
Great Britain."
• We have already mentioned in our account of lord Cam-
den bow very popular this decisiou made him throughout
the kingdom, and the same enthusiasm made it be consi-
dered as a complete triumph on the part of Mr. Wilkes,
who, however, perhaps, thought differently of it, conscious
that he had other battles to fight in which he might not be
so ably supported. On Jan. 10, 1764, he was expelled
from the House of Commons ; and on Feb. 2 1 was con-
victed in the court of King's Bench for re-publishing the
" North Briton, No. 45," and also upon a second indict-
ment, for printing and publishing an " Essay on Woman/1
This was an obscene poem which he printed at his private
press, but can scarcely be said to have published it, as be
printed only a very small number of copies (about twelve)
to give away to certain friends. The great offence was
(and this was complained of in the House of Lords), that
he had annexed the name of bishop Warburton to this infa-
mous poem, and it was hoped, by the ministry, that hold-
ing Mr. Wilkes forth as a profligate, might cure the public
of that dangerous and overpowering popularity they were
about to honour him with. But this was another of their
erroneous calculations. The populace at this time, at least .
the populace of London, were more anxious about general
warrants, which might affect one in ten thousand, than'
about morals, which are the concern of all ; and. even some
of the better sort could see no immediate connection be* :
tween Wilkes's moral and political offences.
Ja the mean time being found guilty on both in forma-
64 WILKES.
tions, and neglecting to make any personal appearance,
when called upon to receive the judgment of the court of
King's Bench, he was, towards the close of the year, out-
lawed. He had again repaired to France, whence he ad-
dressed a letter, in defence of his conduct, to the electors
of Aylesbury, which, like all his publications, was read
with much avidity. It was in this year (1764), and when
at Paris, that he addressed those letters to his friends, of
which we have already given extracts, to prove J:bat, what-
ever his popularity, be bad no very high expectations from
it, .and had sense enough to perceive that his deranged
circumstances could be restored only by making peace
with administration. His terms, we have seen, were not
exorbitant, and might probably have been agreed to, had
they been known, which it is doubtful whether they were.
The years 1765 and 1766 he passed in a journey
through Italy. But as he knew too well the nature of the
multitude, not to be aware that a long retirement would
soon cause him to be forgotten, even by those whose sym-
pathy in bis favour was most warm, when the duke of
Grafton became minister, towards the end of 1766, Mr.
Wilkes solicited, in a letter to him, the clemency of his
sovereign -, and finding his address but faintly listened to,
be, in a second letter to the same nobleman, again called
the public attention to his case. He endeavoured .also to
keep bis name alive, by publishing in 1767, " A collection
of the genuine Papers, Letters, &c. in the Case of J.Wilkes,
late member for Aylesbury in the county of Bucks ; & Pa-
ris, chczJ. W. imprimeur, Rue du Columbier, Fauxburgh
St, Germain, & F Hotel de Saxe" In 1768 he again ap-
peared personally upon the theatre of public action. On
the 4tb of March he addressed a letter of submission to the
king, which was -delivered, by his servant at Buckingham
Gate. This, like his first letter to the duke of Grafton,
supplieated pardon, which one of his biographers says be
was enabled to do without meanness, because " in no one
syllable of his otherwise offensive publications had he of-
fended against the personal respect due to the prince on
the throne." But this writer surely forgets the obvious
tenour of his No. 45, as well as the repeated and atrocious
attacks be made on the princess dowager, his majesty's
mother. • '
No attention was paid to this petition, and probably he
had no great reliance on it, but as he had so long been the
W i L K £ S. u
Idol of the people of London, on the 16tb of the tame
month, be offered himself a candidate to represent the city
of London, In this he did not succeed, although at the
close of the poll on the 23d be was found to have polled
1247 votes. Not disheartened at this failure, he iogme-*
diately declared bis intention of becoming a candidate fotf
the county of Middlesex, and on the 98tb was chosen by a
vast majority. On the 27th of April he was taken up on a
capias utlagatum, and committed to the King's Bench, and
on the 18th of June was sentenced, on the two verdicts
against him, .to be imprisoned twenty«two months, to pay
two fines of 500/. each, and to give security for his good
behaviour for sevenyefers, himself in 1000/. and two sure-
ties in 500/. each. This judgment wps far milder than had
been expected by the public, and it is said that Mr. Wilkes
might have made bis peace with government at this time,
but one condition was proposed to him in which he could
not concur, namely, not to present a petition relative td his
case, which be bad tol^the freeholders of Middlesex he »
should present. He conceived that a public pledge had
beeo given to the contrary, and from this public pledge be
resolved not to withdraw. The petition was accordingly
laid before the House on the following day by sir J.
Mawbey, and was received as the declaration of a second
war.
On the 10th of May, 1768, the populace had assemble^
in great numbers about the neighbourhood of the King's
Bench prison, where Mr. Wilkes was in confinement. The
riot-act was read by the justices of Surrey, and tkfe mob
not dispersing, the military was ordered to fire : several
persons were slightly wounded, some more seriously, and
one was killed on the spot. jLord Weymouth, the secre*
tary of state, bad written to the magistrates a letter dated
April 17, exhorting them to firmness in the suppression of
any popular tumult which might arise : and lord Barring**
ton, -the secretary at war, returned thanks, after the lOfctf
of May, in the name of his majesty, to the officers and
soldiers of thai regiment of guards, which had been em-
ployed upon the occasion. These two letters were trans**,
mined to the newspapers by Mr. Wilkes, accompanied
with some prefatory remarks, in which he termed the un-
happy transaction a massacre. Of these remarks he avowed
himself, at the bar of the House of Commons, tq be the
luthor. The remark* were voted libellous, and be, as rbe
Veu XXXIL F
§& WILKE&
author of them, was expelled ; bat his conduct appearing
still more meritorious in the eyes of his constituents, he
was re-chosen on the 16th of February, 1769, without op-
position* On the following day be was declared by a ma-'
jority of the House of Commons ineapahle of being elected
into that parliament, and the election was vacated, upon*
the principle that the expulsion of a member of parliament
was equivalent to exclusion ; . but notwithstanding this re-
solution, he was a third time elected, again without oppo-
sition ; a Mr. Dingley indeed offering himself as a candi-
date, but without the least success. In April, Wilkes waft
elected a fourth time by a majority of 1143 votes against
Mr. Luttrel), a new candidate who had only 296, and the
same day the House of 'Commons confirmed Mr. LuttrelPs
election. These proceedings were not carried on, how*
ever, without long discussions in the House,, and a warn*
controversy from the press, in which many eminent writers
took a part.
In the mean time, Wilkes, now within the walls of the
King's Bench, was approaching nearer to those substantial
rewards which he valued more than the empty .noise of a
triumph. From the time of bis first election for Middlesex
in March 1768, through the whole of 176-9, and even far
into 1772, he was the sole unrivalled political idol of the
people, who lavished upon him all in their power to be*
stow, as if willing to prove that in England it was possible
for an individual to be great and important through them
alone. A subscription was opened, for the payment of his
debts, and 20,000/. are said in a few weeks to have been
raised for that purpose, and for the discharging his fine*
A newly established society for the support of the " Bill of
Rights9' presented him with 300/. Gifts of plate, of wise,
of household goods, were daily heaped upon hkn, A»
unknown patriot conveyed to him in a handsomely em-
broidered purse five hundred guineas. An honest chan-
dler enriched him with a box containing of candles, the
magic number of dozens, forty-five. High and low con-
tended with each other who most should serve and celebrate
him. Devices and emblems of all descriptions ornamented
the trinkets conveyed to his prison : the most usual was the
cap of liberty placed over his crest : upon others was a
bird with expanded wings, hovering over a cage, beneath
a motto, " I love liberty.9* Every wall bore his name, and
•very window his portrait. In china, in bronze, in rsaxble,
W I L fc E S. iS?
be stood upon the cbiiriney-piece of half the houses in the
metropolis : add he swung upon the sign-post of every
Tillage, and of every great road throughout the environs df
London.
In November l?69, he brought his action, tfhich had
been prevented by his absehce abroad, against lord Hali-
fax, for false imprisonment, and the seizure of his papers,
and obtained a verdict of 4000/. On the 17th of April,
1770, be was discharged from bis imprisonment. On the
24th be was sworn as alderman of the ward of Farringdcm
Without. It was, however, soon discovered that there was
a difference of opinion in many points between him and
several of bis former friends* Early in 1771 a rupture be-
tween him and Mr. Home (afterwards Home Tooke) pro-*
duced hostilities in the newspapers, and both parties ex-
erted their abilities in abusing eadh other with much acri-
mony, to the great entertainment of the public, though
little to their own credit. After some time it was found
that the world was perverse enough to believe both the
gentlemen in their unfavourable representatifcrv of each
other. Mr. Wilkes soon saw this effect of the controversy,
and wisely withdrew from it on being chosen sheriff on the
3d of July, 1771. His antagonist also, being left to him-
self without an opponent, and feeling the disgrace which
he had brought on ' himself, also prudently and silently
quitted the field, discomfited and disappointed.
On the 8tb of October, 1772, Mr. Wilkes was by the
livery elected one of the persons to be selected for lord
mayor, but was not chosen by the court of aldermen ; and
the same circumstance happened the succeeding year. On
the third year (1774) he was again elected in the same man-
ner, and approved by the court of aldermen. On the 20tb
of October he was again elected member for the county of
Middlesex, and was permitted to take his seat without mo-
lestation. The popularity which he had hitherto enjoyed
was now to suffer some diminution. In the beginning of
1776 sir Stephen Theodore Janssen resigned the office of
chamberlain, and Mr. Wilkes was a candidate to succeed
kitn ; when, notwithstanding every exertion in his favour,
and every art employed, he lost his election, and Mr. alder-
man Hopkins was chosen, by a majority of 177. He made
another effort in the succeeding year with equal ill success; '
and on a third attempt in 1778, was again rejected, having
only 287 votes against 1216. His situation at this time was
* F 2
•6?
.W 1 I * E S.
.truly melancholy : bis interest in the city appeared to be
lost; a motion to pay bis debts had been rejected in the
common council ; he was involved in difficulties of various
kinds ; his creditors were clamorous ; and such of his pro-
Eerty which could be ascertaiued, and amongst the rest
is books, had been taken in execution : those who for-
merly supported him were become cold to bis solicitations,
and languid in their exertions* and the clouds of adversity
seemed to gather round him on every side, without a ray
of light to cheer bim. While in this forlorn state, Mr, Hop-
kins died in 1779, and Mr. Wilkes at length obtained an
establishment, which, pro6tipg by experience, rendered
the remainder of his life easy a.nd comfortable. On the 1st
of December be was chosen chamberlain, by a majority of
1972 votes, and continued to fill the office with credit to
himself, and to tbe satisfaction of his constituents, during
the rest of his life, in spite of some feeble attempts at op*
position to him.
In 1782, upon the dismission from office of tbe mi*
lusters yyho conducted the war against America, 'the ob-
noxious resolutions against him were, at length, upon his
own motion, expunged from tbe journals. This was the
crown of those political labours, which more immediately
poiicerned bi? own personal actions. He thenceforward
deemed bimsplf '* a fire burnt out." His popularity was
fast decaying, and although he tQok the popular aide in the
Contest betwixt Mr. Pitt and Mr. Fox. in 1783, and thereby
secured bis election in 1784, be did not venture to be a
candidate in the general election of 1790. That be was
tiretty wpll tired pf " his followers," appears from a short
etter to his daughter, written in 1784, in which be says,
" yesterday was sacred to the powers of dullness, and the.
anniversary meeting of the Quintuple Alliance* when I was
obliged to eat stale fish, and swallow sour port, with sir
£ecil Wray, JWr. Martin the banker, Dr. J ebb, &c, to pro*
mote the grand refprn> of parliament. I was forced into
the chair, ancj was so far happy as to be highly applauded,
both for a long speech, %nd my conduct as president through
PO arduous day. I have not, however, authenticated to the
public any account of tbe day's proceeding, nor given to
the press the various new-fangled toasts which were the
amusement of tbe hour, and should perish with it." This
* Apolitical club not 09V f xistinf.
WILKES. tl
Insincerity he was at no pains tp disguise, and after he had
obtained hb wishes as to situation, he appeared always suf-
ficiently candid in ridiculing the persons who had brought
bini to it.
Though now far advanced in years, he shewed no decay
6f intellect His ahott congratulatory addresses spoken ai
chamberlain to those public characters, who received be-*
tween 1790 and 1797 the freedom of the city, were his last
public exertions. He died Dec. 26, 1797, aged seventy, at
his house in Grostenaj-aqtfare ; and his remains were in-
terred m a vault in Grosvenor chapel, South Audley-street,
according t6 the directions of his will, being near to where
he died. A hearse and three mourning-coaches, and Miss
Wilkes's coabh, formed the cavalcade ; and eight labouring
men, dressed in new black cloaths, bore the deceased to
the place of interment, for which each tnan received a
guinea besides the suit of cloaths. He has also directed
a tablet to be placed to his memory, with these few lines :
'The Rsmaiks
op
John wilkes,
A FaiBND to Liberty.
Boin At London, Oct. 17> 1737, 0,S.
DIBO IN THIS PAJUSH.
Mr. Wilkes left behind him a daughter, Mai^r, the' off-
Spring of his marriage With Miss Mead; Miss Wilkes sur-
vived her father but a few years', she died the 1 2th of March
1802, aged fifty-one. He left abo two natural children,
but scarcely any property.
Wilkes was perhaps the most popular political charac
ter that ever had been known, or perhaps wilt ever be known
again, for, by imposing on the credulity, he has added to
the experience of mankind, and it will be difficult, although
we have seen it tried, for any other pretender to imitate
Wilkes with equal effect At one period of his life, he ob-
tained a very dangerous influence over the minds of the
people ; bis name was sufficient to blow up the flames of
sedition, and excite the lower orders of the community to
acts of violence against his opponents in a manner 'some-
thing allied to madness. After great vicissitudes of fdrtune,
he round himself placed in a state of independence and af-
fluence; gradually declined from the popularity he had
acquired, and at last terminated a turbulent life in a state
of neglected quiet. Reviewing the present state of the
to WIU E S.
Country, atid comparing it with that in which he begad bi#
exertions, though some advantages may be placed to hia
account) we hesitate in giving him credit for those bene-
ficial consequences which his admirers are apt to ascribe
to him. We believe he was a patriot chiefly from accident,
a successful one it must be owned, but not originating in
principle. This was thought even in his life- time, but it
has been amply confirmed by two publications which have
since appeared ; the one " Letters from the year 1774 to<
the year 1796 of John Wilkes, esq. addressed to his daugh-
ter," 1804, 4 vols. 12mo, with a well- written memoir of bis
life, of which we have occasionally availed ourselves ; the
second, " The Correspondence of John Wilkw, esq. with
his friends, printed from the original manuscripts, in which
are introduced Memoirs of his Life, by John Almon," 1 805,
6 vols. 8vo, a publication in which Mr.. Almon is the great-
est admirer and the greatest enemy to Mr. Wilkes's charac-
ter he ever bad.
Of Wilkes's private character, blackened, with no sparing
hand, in the latter of these publications, there are parts
which always conciliated esteem. He was a gentleman of
elegant manners, of fine taste, and of pleasing conversa-
tion* Amidst all the vicissitudes of his life, he spared dome
hours for the cultivation of classical learning, and in 1790,
paid his worthy deputy (of the ward) John Nichols, esq.
whom he highly and deservedly esteemed, the compliment
. of publishing from his press, for the use only of particular .
friends, splendid editions of the characters of Tbeophrastus
aod the poems of Catullus; and he had also made considerable
progress in a translation of Anacr^on. His own letters and
speeches were collected in 1769, 3 vols. l2mo, his speeches,
by himself, in 1787, 1 vol. 8vo, to which, in 1788, he added
a single speech in defence of bis excellent friend, Mr.
•Hastings; on which be justly prided himself; it being,
perhaps, the ablest exculpation of that gentleman which has
appeared in print. Many other of his occasional effusions
are scattered through the newspapers and magazines of the
day, and the principal have been reprinted in Mr. Almon'a
book.1
WILKES (Richard), an English antiquary and physi-
cian, was the eldest son of Mr. Richard Wilkes, of Willen-
>
1 Almon'* &rreipondeace.-»and « Letters" nborcmeatiooed,— Qent, Mar,
1798, fee.
WILKES. 7|
fall, in the county of Stafford, a gentleman who lived apon
his own estate, and wiiere his ancestors had been seated
since the time of Edward IV. His mother was Lucretia,
youngest daughter of Jonas Asteley, of Woodeaton, in Staf-
fordshire, an ancient and respectable family. He was born
March 16, 1690-91, and had his school-education at Trent-
ham. He was entered of St. John's college, Cambridge,
March 13, 1709- 10, and was admitted scholar in 1 7 10. On
April 6, 1711, he attended Mr. Sauoderson's mathematical •
lectures, and ever after continued a particular friendship
with that gentleman. In the preface to " Saunderson's
Elements of Algebra," the reader is told, that whatever
materials had been got together for publishing Saunder*
son's life, had been received, among other gentlemen, from
Mr. Richard Wilkes. He took the degree of B.A. Janu-
ary 1713^14; and was chosen fellow Jan. 21, 1716*17 ;
and April 11, 17.16, was admitted into lady Sadler's Alge*
bra Lecture, and took the degree of M. A. at the com-
mencement of 1717; also July 4, 1718, he was chosen
JLtnacre Lecturer. It does not appear that he -ever took
any degrees in medicine. He seems to have taken pupils
and taught mathematics in the college from 1715 till the
time that he left it. It is not known 'when, he took dea-
con's orders, but a relation of his remembered his having
preached at Wolverhampton. He abo preached some time '
at Stow,, near C hartley* The disgust he took to the mi-
nistry has been imputed to his being disappointed in the
hope of preferment in the oburch, and he thought he could
make his talents, turn to better account, and accordingly
began to practise physic >at Wolverhampton, Feb. 1720,
and became very eminent in his profession. On the 24th
June 1725, he married Miss Rachel Manlove,of Lee's-hill,
near Abbots Bromley in Staffordshire, with whom he had
a handsome fortune, and from that time be dwelt with his
father at Willenhalj. In the beginning of 1747 he bad a
severe fit of illness, during which, among other employ*
menu, be composed a whimsical epitaph on himself, which
may be seen in Shaw's History of Staffordshire. His wife
dying in May 1756, he afterwards married in October the
same, year, Mrs. Frances Bendish (sister to, the late Rev.
sir Richard Wrottesley, of Wrottesley, bart.) who died Dec
24, 1798, at Frox field, Hampshire, at a very advanced age.
Dr. Wilkes died March 6, 1760, of the gout in his stomach,
greatfy lamented by his tenants, to whom he had been an
72 W I L K E 8.
indulgent landlord, and by the poor to whom be bad been
a kind and liberal physician and friend.
. He published an excellent " Treatise on the Dropsy,"
and during the time that the distemper raged in Stafford-
shire among the horned cattle, he published a pamphlet,
entitled " A Letter to the Gentlemen, Farmers, and Gra-
ziers, in the county of Stafford," calculated to prevent, or
cure that terrible plague. Among other things, he medi-
tated a new edition of Hudibras, with notes, &c. As an
antiquary be is principally known by his valuable collec-
tions for the history of Staffordshire. His chef-d'oeuvre,
says Mr. Shaw, is a general history from the earliest and
most obscure ages to his own times, drawn up with great
# skill and erudition, which Mr. Shaw has made the basis of
his own introduction. This, with his other manuscripts,
were long supposed to have been lost, and were not indeed
brought to light until 1792, when they fell into the hands
of Mr. Sbaw, who has incorporated them in bis valuable
history.1
WILKIE (William), a Scotch poet of some fame in hi*
day, was bom in the parish of Dalmeny, in the county of
West Lothian, Oct. 5, 1721. His father, although a small
farmer, and poor and unfortunate, endeavoured to give him
a liberal education, which he appears to have improved by
diligence. At the age of thirteen, be was sent to the nut*
▼ersity of Edinburgh, where he made a rapid progress in
learning, bnt before he completed his academical course,
his father died, leaving him no other inheritance than bis
small farm, and the care of three sisters. Necessity thus
turned his attention to the study of agriculture, which he
cultivated with so much success, although upon a conBned
scale, that he acquired a solid reputation as a practical far-
mer, and was enabled to provide for himself and bis sisters.
|Ie still, however, prosecuted his studies, and at the accus-
tomed period was admitted a preacher in the church of
Scotland,
For some years this made no alteration in bis mode of
life ; and as a clergyman he only occasionally assisted in
some neighbouring churches, while be devoted his princi-
pal time to his farm and bis studies. He appears to have
been early ambitious of tbe character of a poet, and having
read Homer, as Don Quixote read romances, he determined
l Stuw>» Hist of Staffordshire to!. II. Part I. p. 147, 148, an* PreC to vet* U
W I L K I E. *73
totally forth ai bis rival, or continuator; and this enthusi-
asm produced "The Epigoniad," published in 1753. On
this poem be is said to have employed (fourteen years, which
ill agrees with what hts biographers tell us of his propensity
to poetry, and the original vigour of his jnipd ; for after so
much labour it appeared with all the imperfections of a
rough sketch. Its reception by the English public was not
very flattering, but in his own country "The Epigoniad"
succeeded so well, that a second edition was called for in
1759, to which he added a dream in the manner of Spen-
ser. Yet, as this edition was slowly called for, an extraor-
dinary appeal from the general opinion was made by the
celebrated Hume, who wrote a very long encomium on the
"Epigoniad," addressed to the editor of the Critical Review.
This has been inserted in the late edition of the " English
Poets," and those who knew Mr. Hume's taste, friendship,
or sincerity, will be best able to determine whether he is
serious.
A few years before the publication of the first edition,
Wilkie was ordained minister of Ratho, and in 1759 was
chosen professor of natural philosophy in the university of
St. Andrew's. In 1766 the university conferred upon him
the degree of doctor in divinity. In 1768, he published his
* Fables," which had less success than even his " Epigo-
niad," although they are rather happy imitations of the
manner of Gay, and the thoughts, if not always original,
are yet sprightly and just. After a lingering illness, he
died Oct. 10, 1772. The private character of Dr. Wilkie
appears to have been distinguished for those singularities,
-which are sometimes found in men of genius, either from
early unrestrained indulgence, or from affectation. His
biographers have multiplied instances of his slovenly and
disgusting manners, exceeding what we have almost ever
heard of; yet we are told he preserved the respect of his*
contemporaries and scholars. His learning, according to
every account, was extensive, and much of it acquired at
a very early age. *
WILKINS (David), a learned divine and editor, was
born in 1685, but when, or where educated we are not told.
His name does not appear among the graduates of either
university, except that among those of Cambridge, we find '
he wa» honoured with the degree of D.D. in 1717. Two
i,£acyclop. Brit.— English Poets, 1810, 21 Vols. 8vo.
7* W I L K I N 3.
years before this, he was appointed by archbishop Wale ta>
•succeed Dr. Benjamin Abbot, as keeper of the archiepis-
copal library at Lambeth ; and in three years drew up a
v*ry curious catalogue of all the MS8. and printed books
in that valuable collection. As a reward for his industry
jarxl learning, archbishop Wake collated him. to the rectory
of Mongbam-Parva, in Kent, in April 1716, to that of
<5reat Chart in 1719, and to the rectory of Hadleigh in the
tame year. He was also constituted chaplain to the arch-
•bishop and collated to the rectories of Monks-Ely and
Booking ; appointed commissary of the deanery of Bock*
ing, jointly and severally with W. Beaavoir ; collated to a
•prebend~of Canterbury in 1720, and collated to his grace's
/option of the archdeaconry of Suffolk in May 1724. In
consequence of these last preferments, he resigned the
former, and was only archdeacon of Suffolk and rector of
Hadleigh and Monks-Ely. at his death, which happened
Sept. 6, 1745, in the sixtieth year of his age. He married.
Nor. 27, 1725, the eldest daughter of Thomas lord Fairfax
of Scotland, a lady who survived him, and erected a monu-
ment to his memory at Hadleigh.
Dr.Wilkins's publications were, 1. " Novum Testamen-
tum Copticum," Oxon. 1716, 4 to. 2. A fine edition, with
additions, of the "Leges Saxonies," Lond. 1721, fol. &
An edition of" Seidell's works," begun in 1722, and finished
in 1726, very highly to the credit of Dr. Wilkins, as well
as of his learned printer, Bowyer, Lond. 3 vols, folio. This
work was published by subscription, in a manner that would
now be thought singular. The small paper copies were
paid for at the rate of two-pence a sheet, which amounted
to .€/. 145. : the large paper at three-pence a sheet, amount-
ing to 10/. 2s. 4. " Concilia Magnae Britanoise," 1736,
4 vols. fol. Besides these he wrote the preface on the lite-
rary history of Britain, which is prefixed to bishop Tanner's
" Bibliotheca." >
WILKINS (John), an ingenious and learned English
bishop, was the son of Mr. Walter Wilkins, citizen and
goldsmith of Oxford, and was born in 1614, at Fawsley,
near Daventry, in Northamptonshire, in the house of his
mother's father, the celebrated dissenter Mr. John Dod.
He was taught Latitf and Greek by Edward Sylvester, a
teacher of much reputation, who kept a private school in
1 Nichols's Bowyer*
W I L K I N S. 75
the parish of All-Saints in Oxford ; and bis proficiency
was such, that at thirteen he entered a student of New-inn-
hall, in 1627. He made no long stay there, but was tc*
moved to Magdalen -hall, under the tuition of Mr. John
Tombes, and there took the degrees in arts. He after-
wards entered into orders; and was first chaplain toAVil-
liam lord Say, and then to Charles count palatine of the
Rhine, and prince elector of the empire, with' whom he con-
tinued some time. To this last patroo, his skill in the ma*
thematics was a very great recommendation. Upon the
breaking out of the civil war, he joined with the parliament,
and took the solemn league and covenant. He was after-
wards made warden of Wadbam-college by the cdmmittee
of parliament, appointed for reforming the university ; and^
being created bachelor of divinity the 12th of April, 1648,
was the day following put into possession of his warden-
ship. Next year be was created D. D. and about that time
took the engagement then enjoined by the gpwers in being.
In 1656, be married Robina, the widow of Peter. French,
formerly canon of Christ-church, and sister to Oliver Crom-
well, then lord -protector of England : which marriage being
contrary to the statutes of Wadbam-college, because they
prohibit the warden from marrying, be procured a dispen-
sation from Oliver, to retain the wardenship notwithstand-
ing. . In 1659, he was by Richard Cromwell made master
of Trinity-college in Cambridge; but ejected thence the
year0following upon the restoration. Then be became
preacher to the honourable society of Gray's-inn, and rec-
tor of St. Lawrence-Jewry, London, upon the promotion
Dr. Seth Ward to the bishopric of Exeter. About this
time, he became a member of the Royal Society, was
chosen of their council, and proved one of their most emi-
nent members. Soon after this, he. was mfede dean of Rip-
op; and, in 1668, bishop of Chester, Dr. Tiltotson, who
aii married bis daughter-in-law, preaching his consecra-
tion sermon. Wood and Burnet both inform us, that be
obtained this bishopric, by the interest of Villiers duke of
Buckingham ; and the latter adds, that it was no small pre-
judice against him to be raised by so bad a man; Dr. Wal-
ter Pope observes, that Wilkins, for some time after the
restoration, was out of favour both at Whitehall and Lam-
beth, on account of his marriage with Oliver Cromwell's
sister ; and that archbishop Sheldon, who then disposed of
almost all ecclesiastical preferments) opposed his promo-
i
7« WILKINS.
•
tion; that, however, when bishop Ward introduced fatal
afterwards to the archbishop, be was veiy obligingly re*
carved, and treated kindly by him ever after. He did not
enjoy his preferment long ; for he died of a suppression of
Urine, which was mistaken for the stone, at Dr. Tilkrtson's
hotf*e» in Chancery-lane, London* Nov. 49, 1672. He was
buried in the chancel of the church of St. Lawrence Jewry ;
and his funeral sermon was preached by Dr. William Lloyd)
then dean x>f Bangor, who, although Wilkins bad been *
' abased and vilified perhaps beyond any man of his time,
thought it no shame to say every thing that was good ctf
him. Wood also, different as his complexion and princi*
pies werfe from those of Wilkins, has been candid enough
to give him the following character : " He was," says he,
" a person endowed with rare gifts ; he was a noted theo*
legist and preacher, a curious critic in several matters, art
excellent roatbeftiatidian and experimentist, and one as well
seen in mechanisms and new philosophy, of which he wad
a great promoter, as any dittft of bis time. He also highly
advanced the study and perfecting of astronomy, both at
Oxford while he was warden of Wadham-college, and at
London while be was fellow of the Royal Society ; and I
cannot say that there was any thing deficient iti him, but 4
constant mind and settled principles."
Wilkins had two characteristics, neither of which was
calculated to make him generally admired : first, he avowed
moderation, and was kindly affected towards dissenters, for
a comprehension of whom he openly and earnestly con-
tended : secondly, be thought it right and reasonable td
submit to the powers in being, be those powers who they
would, or let them be established bow they wtaitd. And
this making him as ready to swear allegiance to Charles II.
after he was restored to the crown, as to the usurpers, white
they prevailed, he was charged with being various and un>
steady in his principles; with having no principles aft all,
with Hobbism, and every fbrrtg that is bad. Yet the
greatest and best qualities are ascribed to bim, if not una-
nimously, at least by' many eminent and gdod men. Dr.
Tillotson, in the preface to some " Sermons of Bishop
Wilkins," published by bim in 1682, animadverts upon a
slight and unjust character, as he thinks it is, given of the .
bishop in Mr. Wood's " Historia & Antiquitates Universt-
tatiB Oxoniensis ;" *' whether by the author," says he, "or
by some other hand, I am not curious to know :" and con-
W I L K 1 $ «. 7T
m
eludes his animadversions in the following word 5 : " Upon
the whole, it hath often, been no small matter of wonder to
me, whence it should come to pass, that so great a man*,
and so great a lover of mankind, who was so highly valued
and reverenced by all that knew him, » should yet have the
bard fate to fall under the heavy displeasure and censure
of those who knew him not ; and that he, who never Had
any thing to make himself one personal enemy, should
Jiave the ill fortune to have so many, I think I may truly
pay, that there are or have been very few in this age and
patjoi) 40 well known, and so greatly esteemed and favoured}
by so many persona of high rank and quality, and of sin*
gulpr worth and eminence in all the learned professions, a*
our author was. And this surely cannot be denied him, k
is so well known to many worthy persons yet living, and
bath been so often acknowledged even by his enemies, that,
in the late times of confusion, almost all that was preserved
s>nd kept up, of ingenuity and gopd learning, of good
wder and government in the university of Oxford, wqa
fhiefly owing to bis prudent cqnduct and encouragement t
which consideration alone, had there been no other, might
have prevailed with some there to have treated his memory
With at least common kindness and respect." The other
band, Dr. Tjllotson mentions, was Dr. Fell, the dean of
Christ church, and under whose inspection Wood's
f Athenae Qxonienses" was translated into Latin ; and who,
among other alterations without the privity of that com-
piler, ifas supposed to insert the poor diminishing char***
ter of bishop Wilkins, to be found in the Latin version
The friendship which subsisted between our author and
Pr. Tillotson is a proof of their mutual moderation, for
Wilkins was in doctrine a strict and professed Calvinist.
Wfl need quote no more to prove this* than what has; been
thready quoted by Dr. Edwards in his "Veritas Redux,"
p. $53. <f God might (says Dr. Wilkins) have designed qs
for vessels of wrath ; and then we had been eternally un-
done, without all possible remedy. There was nothing to
mpve bins in us, when we lay all together in the general
heap of mankind. It was his own free gra?e and bounty,
that made him to take delight in us, to cbuse us from the
rest, and to sever us from those many thousands in the
World who shall perish everlastingly." Gift of Prayer, c.
28, Jn his'*1 Ecciesiastes," section 3, he commends ton
preacher, for his best authors, Calvin, Junius, P. Martyr,
19 WILK1N8.
Musculus, Paraeus, Piscator, Rivet, Zaocbius, &c. m
" most eminent for their orthodox sound judgement" .Bur-
net, in his Life of Sir Matthew Hale, printed in 1682,
declares of Wilkins, that " he was a man of as great a mirid,
as true a judgement, as eminent virtues, and of as good a
isoul, as any he ever knew •" and in his " History'* he says,
that, though "he married Cromwell's sister, yet he made
no other use of that alliance but to do good offices, and to
cover the university of Oxford from the sourness of Owen
and Goodwin. At Cambridge he joined with those who
studied to propagate better thoughts, to take men off from
being in parties, or from narrow notions, from supersti-
tious conceits, and fierceness about opinions. He was also
a great observer and promoter of experimental philosophy,
which was then a new thing, and much looked dfter. He
was naturally ambitious, but was the wisest clergyman I
ever knew. He was a lover of mankind, and had a delight
in doing good.'9 The historian mentions afterwards another
quality Wilkins possessed in a supreme degree ; and that
was, says he, " a courage, which could stand against a
current, and against all the reproaches with which ill-na-
tured clergymen studied to load him."
All the works of bishop Wilkins are esteemed ingenious
and learned, . and many of them particularly curious and
entertaining. His first publication was in 1638, when he
was only twenty-four years of age, of a piece, entitled
" The Discovery of a new World ; or, a Discourse tending
to prove, that it is probable there may be.anotber babitab>e
World in the Moon ; with a Discourse concerning the pos-
sibility of a passage thither," in 8vo. The object of this'
singular work may appear from the fourteen propositions
which he endeavours to establish, some of which have often
been quoted in jest or earnest by subsequent wits* or phi-
losophers* He contends, I. That the strangeness of this
opinion is no sufficient reason why it should be rejected,'
because other certain truths have been formerly esteemed
ridiculous, and great absurdities entertained by common
consent. II. That a plurality of worlds does not contra-'
diot any principle of reason or faith. IIL That the hea-'
vens do not consist of any such pure matter, which can*
* Among others the famous duchess pressed his surprise that this objection
of Newcastle objected to Dr. Wilkins, should be made* by a lady who had
the want of baiting-places in bis way been all her life employed in building
to the new world, when the doctor es- catties in tJm sir*
WI L K I N S. T»
a
privilege tbem from the . like change and corruption, as
these inferior bodies are liable, upto. IV. That the moot*
is a solid compacted opacous body. V* That the moou
hath not any light of her own. < VI. That there, is a world
in the moon, hath been the direct opinion of many ancient,
with some modern mathematicians, and may probably be
deduced from the. tenets of others. VII. That those spots
and brighter parts, which by our sight may be distinguished
in the moon, do shew the difference betwixt the sea anil
land in that other world* VIII* That the spots represent
the sea, and the brighter parts the land. IX, That there
are high mountains, deep vallies, and spacious plains m
the body of the moon. X. * That there is an atmosphere,
or an orb of gross vaporous air immediately encompassing
the body of the moon. XL That as their world is our
moon, so our world is their moon. XII. That it is pro-
bable there nay be such meteors belonging to that world
in the moon as there are with us. XIII, That it is pro^
bable there may be inhabitants in this other world ; but of
what kind they are, is uncertain. XIV. That it is possi-
ble for some of our posterity to find out a conveyance to
this other world ; and if there be inhabitants there, to havte
commerce with tbem. Under this head he observes*
that " if it be here inquired, what means there may be
conjectured for Qur ascending beyond the sphere of the
earth's magoetical vigour ; I answer, says be, J. It is not
perhaps impossible, that a man may be able to ilye by the
application of wings to his owne body; as angels are .pic-
tured, and as Mercury and Daedalus are fained, and as
bath been attempted by divers, particularly by a Turke ia
Constantinople,. as Busbequius relates. 2. If there be such,
a great Ruck in Madagascar, as Marcus Polus the Vene-
tian mentions, the feathers in whose wings are twelve foot
long, which can soppe up a horse and his rider, or an ele-
phant, as our kites doe a mouse ; why then it is but teach^
ing one of these to carry a man, and he may ride up thither,
as. Ganymed does upon an eagle. 3. Or if neither of those
ways will serve, yet I doe seriously and upon good grounds-
affirme it possible to .make a flying chariot; iu which a man
may sit, and give such a motion into it, as shall convey
him through the aire. And this perhaps might be made
large enough to carry divers men at the same time, toge-
ther with foode for their viaticum, and commodities for.
^rafJBquew It is not the hignesse of any thing in this kind,,
to W 1 L K I N S.
that can hinder its motion, if the motive faculty be answer-*
able thereunto. We see a great ship swimme as well as a
small corke, and an eagle flies in the aire *s well as a little
gnat. This engine may be contrived from the same prin-
ciples by which Archytas made a wooden dove, and Re-
giomontanus a wooden eagle. I conceive it were ho difli-<
cult matter, if a man had leisure, to shew more particiU
larly the meanes of composing it. The perfecting of suck
an invention would be of such excellent use, that it were?
enough, not only to make a man, but the age also wfaereit*
he lives. For besides the strange discoveries, that it might
occasion in this other world, it would he also 6f inconceiv-
able advantage for travelling above any other conveiance
that is now in use. So that notwithstanding all these seem-
ing impossibilities, 'tis likely enough, that there may be a
meanes invented of journying to the moone. And bow
happy shall they be, that are first successefidl iu this at-
tempt?
< ■■■ Foelicesq ; Animie, quas nubila supra,
Et turpes tamos, plenumq ; vaporibus orbexn,
Inseruit Coelo sancti seintUla Fromethei.'
Having thus finished this discourse, I chanced upon a late
fancy to this purpose under the fained name of Domingo
Gonzales, written by a late reverend and learned bishop
(Godwin); in which v(besides sundry particulars, wherein
this later chapter did unwittingly agree with it) there is
delivered a very pleasant and well contrived fancy concern-*
ing a voyage to this other world.'*
Two years after, in 1640, appeared his "Discourse con-
cerning a new Planet; tending to prove, that it is probable
eur Earth is one of the planets.'* In this he maintains ; 1.
That the seeming novelty and singularity of this opinion
ean be no sufficient reason to prove it erroneous. 2. That;
the places of Scripture, which seem to intimate the diur-
nal motion of the sun or heavens, are fairly capable of ano-
ther interpretation. 3. That the Holy Ghost in many
places of Scripture does plainly conform his expressions to*
the error of our conceits, and does not speak of sundry
things as they are in themselves, but as they appear unto
us. 4. That divers learned men have fallen into great ab-
surdities, whilst they have looked for the grounds of philo-
sophy from the grounds of Scripture. 5. That the words of
Scripture in their proper and strict construction do not any
where affirm the immobility of the earth. f.JThat there i*
W i L K I N 9. 81
ml any argument from the words of Scripture, principles
of nature, or observations in astronomy, which can suffix
ciently evidence the earth to be in the center of the uni-
verse. 7. It is probable that the sun is the center of the
world. 8. That there is not any sufficient reason to prove
the earth incapable of those motions! which Copernicus
ascribes unto it. 9. That it is more probable the earth
does move, than the heavens. 10. That this hypothesis is
exactly agreeable to common appearances.
His name was not put to either of these works ; but they
were so well knovWi to be his, that Langrenus, in his map
of the moon, dedicated to the king of Spain, calls one of
the lunar spots after Wilkins's name. His third piece, in
1641, is entitled " Mercury; or, the secret and swift Mes-
senger ; shewing how a man may with privacy and speed
communicate his thoughts to a friend at any distance," in
Svo. His fourth, in 1648, " Mathematical Magic; or, the
Wonders that may be performed by Mechanical Geometry,"
in Svo. All these pieces were published entire in one vo-
lume, 8vo, in 1708, under Jthe title of "The Mathematical
aad Philosophical Works of the Right reverend John WiU
kins," &c. with a print of die author and general title-page
handsomely engraven, and an account of his life and writ*
iogs. To this collection is also subjoined an abstract of a
larger work, printed in 1668, folio, and entitled " An -Essay
towards a real Character and a philosophical Language."
This be persuaded Ray to translate into Latin, which he
did, but k never was published ; and the MS. is now in
the library of the Royal Society. These are his mathema-
tical and philosophical works. He was also the inventor of
the Perambulator, orx Measuring wheel. His theological
works are, 1. " Ecclesiastes ; or, a Discourse of the Gift of
Preaching, as it falls under the rules of Art," 1646. This
no doubt was written with a view to reform the prevailing
taste of the times he lived in ; from which no man was ever
farther than Wilkins. It has gone through nine editions,
the last in 1718, 8vo. 2. " Discourse concerning the
heauty of Providence, in ail the rugged passages of it,"
1649. 3. ".Discourse concerning the Gift of Prayer, shew*
ing what it is, wherein it consists, and how far it is attain-
able by industry," &c. 1653. This was against enthusiasm
and fanatfcism. These were published in his life-time;
after his death, in 1675, Tillotson published two other of
bis works. 4. " Sermons preached on several occasion?;"
Vol. XXXIL G
St W I L K ! N S.
and, 5. " Of the principles and duties of Natural Religion,**
both in 8vo. Tillotson tells us, 'in the preface to the latter,
that 4I the first twelve chapters were written out for the
press in his life-time; and that the remainder hath beenr
gathered and made up out of his papers."1
WILKINSON (Henry), one of four divines of the name
of Wilkinson, who made considerable noise at Oxford
during the usurpation, was born in the vicarage of Halifax
in Yorkshire, Oct. 9, 1566, and came to Oxford in 1581,
where he was elected a probationer fellow of Merton col-
lege, by the interest of his relation Mr. afterwards sir
Henry Savile, the warden. In 1586 he proceeded in arts,
and studying divinity, took bis bachelor's degree in that
faculty. In 1601 he was preferred to the living of Wad-
desdoo in Buckinghamshire, which he held for forty-six
years. He was a man of considerable learning and piety,
and being an old puritan, Wood says, he was elected one
of the assembly of divines in 1643. He was the author of
" A Catechism for the use of the congregation of Waddes-
don," 8vo, of which there was a fourth edition in 1647.
He published also " The Debt-Book ; or a treatise upon
Romans xiii. 8. wherein is handled the civil debt of money
or goods/' Lond. 1625, 8vo ; and other things, the names
of which Wood has not mentioned. He died at Waddes-
don March 19, 1647, aged eighty-one, and was buried in
bis own church, with a monumental inscription. By his
wife Sarah, the daughter of Mr. Arthur Wake, another
puritan, he had six sons and three daughters. One of bis
sons, Edward, was born in 1607, and educated at Magda-
len-hall, Oxford, which he entered when little more than
eleven years old, and completed his degrees in arts at the
age of eighteen. He must have been of extraordinary
parts, or extraordinary interest, for in 1627, when only
twenty, he was chosen professor of rhetoric in Gresham
college. All that Ward has been abfe to discover of him,
is, that he held this office upwards of eleven years, and
resigned it in 1638. Another of the rector of Waddesdon's
sons, a more distinguished character, is the subject of our
next article."
WILKINSON (HfiNRY), one of the sons of the pre-
ceding, and called Long Haury, to distinguish him from
* Biog. Brit — Ath. Ox. vol. If.— Burnet's Own Times.— Birch's Life of TiU
ToUon, &<\
* Ath. Ok. toI. II.— Watson's Jblifax.
WILKINSON. 83
a contemporary and cousin of the same names* who was
called Bean Harry, was born at Waddesdon in 1609, and
in 1622 became a commoner of Magdalen-hall* where,
making great proficiency in his studies, he took the degrees
in arts, became a noted tutor, master of the schools, and
divinity reader in his hall. In 1633, he was admitted B. D.
aud preached frequently in and near Oxford, " not," says
Wood, " without girds against the actions, and certain
men of the times/' by which we are to understand that he
belonged to that growing party which was hostile to the
ecclesiastical establishment. Of this he gave so decided a
proof in a sermon preached at St. Mary's in Sept. 1G40, in
which he inveighed against the ceremonies, &c. that he was
ordered to recant, and a form drawn up accordingly. But
as he peremptorily refused to sign this, well knowing that
the power of the church was undermined, he was sus->
pended from preaching, &c. within the university and its
precincts, according to the statute. Immediately* how-
ever, on the meeting of the Long parliament, he complain-
ed to the House of Commons of the treatment he had met
with from the vice chancellor: and the committee of reli-
gion not only took off his suspension, but ordered his ser- ,
nion to be printed, as suiting their views.
With this encouragement Wilkinson went on preaching
what he pleased without fear, but removed to London, as
the better scene of action, where he was made minister of
St. Faith's, under St. Paul's^ and one of the assembly of
divines. He was also a frequent preacher before the par-
liament on their monthly fasts, or on thanksgiving days. In
1645 he was promoted to the rectory of St. Dunstan's in
the West*. Soon after he was constituted one of the six
ministers appointed to go to Oxford (then in the power of
parliament), and to establish preachings and lectures upon
presbyterian principles and forms. He was also made one
of the visitors for the ejection of all heads of houses, fel-
lows, students, &c, who refused compliance with the now
predominant party. For these services he was made a
.senior fellow of Magdalen college (which, Wood says, he
kept till h£ married a holy woman called the Lady Carr),
a canon of Christ church, doctor of divinity, and, after
Chey net's departure, Margaret professor. Of all this he
was deprived at the'restoration, but occasionally preached
* Catamy says, St. Dunstan's in the E*st.
Q 2
84 • WILKINSON.
in or about London, as opportunity offered, particularly
at Clapham, where he died in September 1675, and his
body, after lying in state in Drapers9 hall, London, was
buried with great solemnity in the church of St. Dunstan's.
His pVinted works are entirely " Sermons" preached before
the parliament, or in the "Morning Exercise11 at Cripple-
gate and Southwark, and seem to confirm part of the cha-
racter Wood gives of him, that " he was a good scholar,
always a close student, an excellent preacher (though his
voice fras shrill and whining),11 yet, adds Wood, " his ser-
mons were commonly full of dire and confusion, especially
while the rebellion lasted.1' '
WILKINSON (Henry), denominated sometimes Ju-
nior, but commonly called Dean Harry, to distinguish
him from the preceding, was the son of the rev. William
Wilkinson of Adwick, or Adwickstreet, in the West Riding
of Yorkshire, the brother of the first Henry Wilkinson,
rector of Waddesdon ; and consequently cousin to the pre-
ceding Long Harry. He was born at Adwick in 1616, and
was educated in grammar at a school in All Saints parish*
Oxford. He entered a commoner of Magdalen-hall in
1631, took the degrees in arts, was admitted into holy
orders, and became a noted tutor, and moderator or dean
of Magdalen-hall. Being of the same principles with his
relations, he quitted the university in 1642, and going to
London, took the covenant, and became a frequent
preacher. On the surrender of Oxford to the parliamen-
tary forces, he returned thither, and was created bachelor
of divinity, and made principal of his hall, and moral phi-
losophy reader of the university. He also took the degree
of D. D. and became a frequent preacher at the different
churches in Oxford. As the governor of a society, Wood
speaks of him very highly, and his character indeed in this
Vespect was so welt established, that he might have re-
mained principal, if he could have conformed. He suffered
considerably afterwards for nonconformity, while endea-
vouring to preach at Buckminster in Leicestershire, Gos-
field in Essex, Sible-Headingham, and finally at Connard
near Sudbury in Suffolk, where he died May 13, 1690. He
was buriec) at Milding near Lavenham, in Suffolk. Wood
says " he was a zealous person in the way he professed,
but overswayed more by the principles "of education than
i Ath. Ox. vol. H.— Calamjr.
I
I
W I LK I N S O N. 85
jea$on. He was very courteous in speech and carriage,
communicative of his knowledge, generous and charitable
to the poor; and so public-spirited (a rare thing, adds
Wood, in a presbyterian), that he always minded the com-
mon good, more than his own concerns.1' He was a con-
siderable benefactor to Magdalen- ball, having built the
library, and procured a good collection of books for it.
He published, in Latin, various "Condones," and "Ora-
tiones," delivered at Oxford on public occasions ; and se-
veral English sermons, besides the following, I. " Catalo-
gs librorum in Bibl. Aul. Magi. Oxon." Oxford, 1661,
^8vq.' 2. " The doctrine of contentment briefly explained,
&c.9' Lond. 1671, 8vo^ 3. " Characters of a sincere heart,
and the comforts thereof,*' ibid. 1674, 8vo. 4. "Two
Treatises concerning God's All- Sufficiency, &c." ibid.
1681, 8vo. In this last work we find a singular aneedote,
which he says was communicated to him by archbishop
Usher, with whom he was well acquainted. Our readers
probably know tbat the Marian persecution nerer reached
Ireland, and if the following be true, the Irish protestants
h?d a very narrow escape from that tyranny. " A com-
mission dc Hareticis comburendis (For burning of heretics)
was sent to Ireland from queen Mary, by a certain doctor,
who, at his lodgings at Chester, made his boast of it. One
of the servants in the inn, being a well-wisher to protes-
tants, took notice of the words, and found out a method to
get away the commission, which he kept in his own hands.
WheiKthe commissioner came to Ireland, he was enter-
tained with great respect. After some time he appeared
before the lords of the council, and then opened his box
to shew his commission, but there was nothing in it but a
pack of cards. On this he was committed to prison and
threatened exceedingly ; but upon giving security he was
released, returned to England, and obtained a new com-
mission ; as soon, however, as he came to Chester, the re-
♦ port arrived of queen Mary's death, which stopt his farther
journey V1
WILKINSON (John), brother of the rector of Wad-
desdon, first-mentioned, and uncle to the two Henrys, was
born in Halifax, and educated at Oxford, where he was
very celebrated. He became fellow of Magdalen college,
and in 1605, when Henry, prince of Wales, was matricu-
1 Ath, Ox. vol. II,— Calamr.
*6 WILKINSON.
lated of Magdalen college, Mr. Wilkinson, then B. D. was
appointed his tutor, as high a mark of respect as could well
be paid, and a striking proof of the respect in which he
was then held. In the same year Mr. Wilkinson was made
principal of Magdalen-hall; and Wood says, that under his
government, in 1624, and before, there were three hun-
dred students in the hall, of which number were forty or
more masters of arts, but, Wood adds, *'all mostly inclin-
ing to Calvinism.1* On the commencement of the rebel-
lion, being of the same sentiments as his relations before-
mentioned, he left Oxford in 1643, and joined the parlia-
mentary party. After the surrender of the city of Oxford
to the parliamentary forces in 1646, he returned to Mag-
dalen-hall, and resumed his office as principal until 1648,
when he resigned it on being advanced to be president of
Magdalen-college. He hacl the year before been ap-
pointed one of the visitors of the university. He did not,
however, live long to enjoy any of these honours, for he
died Jan. 2, 1649, and was interred in the church of Great
Milton in Oxfordshire. It does not appear that Dr. John
Wilkinson published any thing; the greater part of his life
he spent as the governor of the two societies of Magdalen-
hall and Magdalen-college. Notwithstanding his reputa-
tion in his early years, Wood gives him the character of
being ?* generally accounted an illiterate, testy, old crea-
ture, one that for forty years together had been the sport
of the boys, and constantly yoked with Dr. Kettle : a per-
son of more beard than learning, &c." It is unnecessary to
copy more of this character, which agrees so ill with what
Wood says of him in his account of Magdalen-hall, that
we are almost inclined to think he is speaking of another
person. There is much confusion in some of the accounts
given of these Wilkinsons, and we are not quite sure that
we have been enabled to dispell it ; but Wood so expressly
mentions a John Wilkinson Magdalen-hall, as one of the
visitors of Oxford, and afterwards a physician, that we
suspect he has mixed the characters of the two. On this,
account the story of Dr. John Wilkinson having robbed the
college of some money, which is related by Fuller and
Heylin, must remain doubtful, for Wood attributes it to
Henry Wilkinson, the vice-president.^
1 A\b. Ox. vol?. I and II.— -Wood's Annals and History of Oxford. — Ward's
Lives of the Gresham profesiorb.— fuller'! Ch. flirt.
W I L L A N. 87
WILLAN (Robert), a learned physician, was born No-
vember 12, 1757, at the Hill, near Sedbergh in York-
shire, whei£ his father resided, in the enjoyment of exten-
sive medical reputation and practice *. He *vas educated
in the principles of the Quakers, and received his scholas-
tic tuition exclusively at Sedbergh, at the grammar-school
of that place, under the care of the reverend Dr. Batcman,
and the celebrated Mr. Dawson. The, medical profession
had long been determined upon as the object of bis future
pursuit, and be commenced his studies in that science at
i Edinburgh, in the autumn of 1777. After the usual resi-
dence of three \Tears in that university, he received the de-
gree of doctor in 1780, when he published an inaugural
dissertation, " De Jecinoris Inftammatioue."
In the autumn of the same year, he repaired to the me-
tropolis with the view of obtaining farther medical informa-
tion, and attended lectures with great assiduity. An ar-
rangement had been made some time previously with Dr.
Trotter, a relative, and a physician of some eminence at
Darlington,, in the .county of Durham, but advanced in life,
in consequence of which he intended to decline practice in
I that place in favour of his young friend, as soon as he had
completed his studies. When in London, Dr. Willan was
introduced to Dr. Fothergill, who, from a just estimate of
his talents and acquirements, recommended hitn to try his
fortune in the metropolis, and offered him his assistance.
Dr. Fothergill, however, died in the month of December,
in that year ; and in the commencement of the following
year, 1781, the death of Dr. Trotter alsb occurred ; upon
which Dr. Willan immediately went to Darlington, where
he remained about a year; during which period he ana*
lyaed the sulphureous water at Croft, a village about four
miles from that place, and wrote a small treatise respect-
ing its chemical and medicinal qualities, containing also a
comparison of its properties with those of the Harrogate
waters. This tract was published in 1782, with the title
of " Observations on the Sulphur water at Croft, near
Darlington ;" and a second edition was printed a few years
afterwards.
In the beginning of 1782, not succeeding in practice at
Darlington., Drf Willbn determined to return to London,
* Dr. Robert Willan, senior, gra- Qualitatibus Aeris." The Hill is now
doated at Edinburgh in 1*45, and the residence of his eldest son, Riejiani
pnbfished an* i nan jural thesis, "Da Willan, esq. ',
88 W I L L A N.
where the Public Dispensary, in Carey-street, being opened
in the commencement of 1783, chiefly accomplished by
the exertions of some of his friends, he was appointed sole
physician to it ; and under his humane and active superin-
tendence, together with that of his able and benevolent
colleague, Mr. John Pearson, the surgeon to the institu-
tion, the new Dispensary speedily flourished, and became
one of the most extensive and respectable establishments
of its kind in London. In March 1785, having passed bis
examinations before the College of Physicians with great
credit, he was admitted a licentiate of that body; on which
occasion he addressed some congratulatory Greek verses to
the board of censors.
About 1786 he engaged in the office of teacher, and
delivered lectures ou the principles and practice of medi-
cine at the Public Dispensary. But bis success, we be*
lieve, in this undertaking, was inconsiderable. At a sub-
sequent period he received, as pupils at the Dispensary,
young physicians who had recently graduated, and who
were initiated into actual practice, under his superintend*
ence, among the patients of the institution; a mode of
tuition from which they derived much practical knowledge,
and were gradually habituated to the responsibility of their
professional duties. Upwards of forty physicians, almost
all of whom have subsequently attained professional repu-
tation, or now occupy responsible situations, both in this
country and abroad, have received the benefit of this in-
struction.
From the moment when Dr. Willan settled in London,
he pursued his professional avocations with an indefati-
gable industry and attention, of which there are, perhaps, few
examples. He never quitted the metropolis for any con-
sideration of health or pleasure, during a period of thirty
years. For many years he conducted the medical depart-
ment of two dispensaries, (having subsequently been fa-
voured with an appointment to the Finsbury Dispensary,
in addition to that of Carey-street), during which his un-
remitting attention to the progress of the diseases which
came under his care, is evinced by the prodigious collec-
tion of cases, which he has recorded in MS. mostly in q,
neat Latin style, in which be wrote with great fluency^
During the whole of his career, he was not less assiduously
employed in examining the records of medicine, both an-
cient and modern, th^n in the actual observation of dis*
W I L L AW. 8ft
eases ; of which the learning and critical acumen displayed
in his publications, as well as the mass of manuscript cot-
lections which he has left behind, afford abundant proof.
His habits of domestic privacy enabled him to dedicate a
large portion of time to these researches ; and indeed to
the unabating ardour with which he applied himself to
them, must be attributed Chat premature injury of his
health, which shortened the period of his life.
Dr. Willan's advance to public reputation, and to the
consequent emoluments of the profession, was regularly
| progressive, though slow ; and his publications, especially
| bis treatise on the diseases of the skin, upon which bis
| posthumous reputation will principally rest, finally placed
his professional character upon high ground. In the spring
of 1791, be had the honeur of being chosen a fellow of the
Society of Antiquaries. He had been early attached to
antiquarian researches, and in his juvenile days had, with
considerable industry and accuracy, collected from the
Odyssey a history of the manners of the primeval times of
Greece. Latterly he communicated some papers to this
, society, 'of which, however, he declined the honour of
f publication ; particularly, a collection of provincial words,
and an elaborate essay on the practice of " Lustration by
Need-fire," (scarcely extinct in some of the norther*
counties,) which led him into a curious and extensive re-
search, respecting similar practices in ancient times, and
the mythological superstitions connected with them. It
was not until the month of February 1809, that he was
elected a fellow of the Royal Society.
The increase of his professional avocations, which had
compelled him some time before to resign his office in the
Finsbory Dispensary, led him, in 1800, to wish to lessen
the fatigue of his duties at the Public Dispensary ; and
accordingly his friend and pupil,* Dr. T. A. Murray, was
appointed his colleague in that year. This active and
intelligent physician, through whose exertions, aided by
the society for bettering the condition of the poor, the
Fever institution of the metropolis was established, was un-
fortunately cut off in February 1802, by the contagion of
fever, caught in the infected apartments of the first p»»»
tients who were admitted into the institution. Dr. Willan,
who had strenuously recommended this establishment, was
Dominated one of its physicians extraordinary. In Decern.-
J>er 1 803, finding his private practice incompatible with a
•0 W.I L L A N.
proper attention to the concerns of the Dispensary, whick
he had now superintended for the space of nearly twenty-
one years, he resigned his office. The governors of the
charity, in testimony of their gratitude for his services and
esteem for his character, nominated him consulting phy-
sician, and made him a governor for life, and likewise pre*
sented him with a piece of plate, of the value of fifty
guineas, inscribed with a testimonial of their attachment
and respect*.
For several years previous to bis resignation, Dr. Willan's
fame and character had been fully established, and the
emoluments derived from his practice very ample. He had
during the preceding course of years, resided successively
in Ely-place, Holborn, and in Red Lion-square, in con-
nection with the family before-mentioned ; and lastly, on
his marriage in the spring of 1801, he settled in Blooms-
bury-square. He was now not only generally consulted,
especially by persons labouring under cutaneous diseases,
but was also deferred to on all occasions by his professional
brethren, as the ultimate appeal on these subjects : for,
Jhowever generally skilled in every other department of
medical practice, his reputation for peculiar knowledge on
this point had certainly excluded him, in some measure^
from that universal occupation in his profession, to which
he was so well entitled.
From his childhood Dr. Willan had been of a delicate
constitution ; his complexion in early life being pale and
feminine, and his form slender. His extremely regular
and temperate mode of life, however, had procured him
an uninterrupted share of moderate health, and latterly
(even a certain degree of corpulency of person, though
without the appearance of robust strength. In the Winter
of 1 3 10, some of his fKends had remarked a slight shrink-
ing of bulk and change in his complexion; but it was not
till the following spring that symptoms of actual disease
manifested themselves, and increased rapidly. With a
view to obtain some respite from professional fatigue, as
well as the advantage of a better air, he took a house in
* This inscription was written by egenorum civium sanandis, vigiuti an-
the late learned, and revere ml Dr. Mat- nos amplius gratuito et strenue nava-
thew Raine, one of the governors of tarn, egrotantum apud Londinemes
the Dispensary, and was as follows, pauperum Patroni, amico amici, L. L.-.
*' Viro integerrimo, art is »cientia?que D. D. D. A. O. 1804, Preside Com it e
wee peritissimo, Roberto Willan, M. D. Sandvicense, collate pecuniae Custode-
•b fejicisiimam operam, in mortis Gnltelmo Waddington."
• W I L L A N, 91
June 1811 at Craven- hill, about a mile from town, an tbe
Ux bridge- road, where he spent his time, with the excep*
lion of two or three hours in the middle of the day, when
he went to Bloomsbnry-square, to receive the patients who
came thither to consult him ; but the probability of becom-
ing phthisical, under the influence of an English winter,
induced him to accede to the strenuous recommendation of
some of his friends, and to undertake a voyage to Ma-
deira. He accordingly embarked on the 10th of October,
and arrived at Madeira on the 1st of December. By per-
severance in an active course of medicine, after his arrival
at Funehall, nil his bad symptoms were considerably alle-
viated ; insomuch that, in the month of February, he me-
ditated a return to the south of England in April. But this
alleviation was only temporary : his disease was again ag-
gravated ; the dropsy, and its concomitant obstruction
to the functions, increased ; and with his faculties remain*
ing entire to the last, he expired on April 7, 1812, in the
fifty-fifth year of his age.
By the death of Dr. Willan the profession was deprived
! of one of its bright ornaments, and of its zealous and able
^ improvers; the sick, of a humane, disinterested, and dis-
cerning physician ; and the world of an estimable and up-
right man, while in all the relations of domestic life, in-
deed, he was an object of general esteem and attach-
ment.
! As a professional writer, Dr. Willan appeared early, in
his contributions to the periodical works. On his arrival
in. London, he became a member of a private medical so-
ciety, which held its meetings at a coffee-house, in Cecil-
street, and which published two volumes of papers, under
the title of " Medical Communications," in 1784 ^and
1790. In tbe second of these volumes be published the
history of "A remarkable case of Abstinence," in a hypo-
chondriacal yotiog man, which was uninterrupted for the
space of sixty-one days, and terminated fatally. We be-
lieve that this was the only medical society of which he was
ever a member. Several communications from him were
also printed in the London Medicaljournal, edited between
the years 1781 and 1790 by Dr. Simmons. In the fourth
volume, p. 421, a short letter of his appears, stating the
character of a non-descript Byssus, found in the sulphu-
reous waters of Aix ; and in the sixth volume of the same
Journal, he relates a fatal case of obstruction in the bowels,
( §3 WILLAN.
to which last he appended seme useful reflections on the
diagnostic symptoms of these obstructions, as occurring in
the large or in the small intestines. He has also some com-
munications in the seventh and eighth volumes^ After
the publication of the eleventh volume of this Journal, Dr.
Simmons commenced a new series, under the title of
u Medical Facts and Observations ;" in the third volume
of which a paper of Dr. Willan's appeared, containing
a description of several cases of iscuria renaiis in chil-
dren.
In the year 1796, Dr. Willan commenced a series of
monthly reports, after the manner of those which Dr. Fo-
thergili had formerly given to the publick *, containing a
brief accouut of the state of the weather, and of the pre*
valent diseases in the metropolis. These reports were pub-
lished in the " Monthly Magazine," and were continued
to 1800, when he collected them into a small volume, and
published them in 1801, under the title of " Reports on
the Diseases in London." This little work is pregnant
with important and original medical observations; but,
from its unassuming pretensions, and desultory arrange-
ment, has not been sufficiently known and valued by the
profession.
We are unacquainted with the circumstances whieh ori-
ginally drew the attention of Dr. Willan to the subject of
cutaneous diseases; but he was led so early as 1784 and
1785, to attend to the elementary forms of eruptions, if we
may so speak, upon which he saw that a definite nomen-
clature could alone be founded, and upon which he erected
the ingenious system developed in his large work. At that
period, in his notes of cases, he has seldom designated
eruptions by their ordinary names ; but speaks of papulae
scorbutica?, eruptio papulosa, &c. In 1786, his notes ex-
hibit still more decisive proofs of the careful attention
which he was directing to this subject, in the minute de-
scriptions (accompanied by slight sketches with the pen),
of the forms, magnitude, and progress of eruptions. The
zeal with which he was at the same time investigating the
original acceptation of the Greek, Roman, and Arabian
terms, applied to eruptive diseases, is likewise manifested
by his copious collections from authors, and by the occa-
sional alterations of the nomenclature, applied in the
* In tht Gentleman's Magazine, vol. XX. et seq.
W I L L A N. 03
cases, before he had finally determined on his arrange*
menu This was probably decided about 1789; as in the
following year his classification was laid before the Medi*
cal Society of London, and honoured by the assignment
of the Fothergillian gold medal of that year to the author*
It was. not till the beginning of 1 798, that the first part
of this work, including the papulous eruptions, was pub-
lished, in which, as in the subsequent parts, each variety
was represented by a coloured engraving. In 1801 the
second part* including the scaly diseases of the akin, ap-
peared ; in 1805 the third part, comprising only two ge-
nera of rashes, viz. measles and scarlet-fever ; and in 1808
the fourth part, comprehending the remainder of the rashes,
and the bullae, or large vesications ; the whole containing
thirty-three plates, and comprising about half of the clas-
sification* Four orders, characterized by the appearance
of pustules, vesicles, tubercles, and spots, remain unpub-
lished. In the interim, however, . from the temporary in-
terest which the investigation of the vaccine question ex-
cited, Dr. Willan was induced so far to anticipate the order
of vesicles, as to publish in 1806 a treatise " Ou Vaccina-
tion ;" in which he also introduced the subject of chicken-
pox (another vesicular disease) in consequence of the mis-
takes which had been committed, in supposing that this was
small -pox, when it occurred after vaccination.
In addition to the writings above mentioned, which have
been committed to the press, Dr. Willan had left some
others in an unfinished state. During three or four years
previous to his death he bad employed his leisure in a
most extensive investigation of the antiquities of medicine,
if we may so express ourselves, which he had conducted
with his usual felicity of execution, His principal object
was the illustration of four subjects, which are enveloped in
no small degree of obscurity ; namely, 1. The nature and
origin of the epidemic or endemic ignis sacer, which was
a frequent cause of much mortality in ancient times, and
in the middle ages, and has been confounded with the
plague, to which it had no resemblance but in its fatality :
2. The evidence of the prevalence of small-pox, measles,
and scarlet fever, not only in tbe first ages of the Christian
sera, but at still more ancient periods, of which he has
brought together, with great ingenuity, a collection that
appears incontrovertibly to establish the affirmative of tbe
question : 3. The history of the leprosy of the middle
$4 W I L L A N.
ages: and 4. That of the lues venerea. The dissertations
relative to the two first mentioned topics, Dr. Willan bad
nearly completed, hating re-modelled the second, by the*
aid of a friendly amanuensis, during bis residence in Ma-
deira. They contain a very able and original view of the
state of disease in the early ages of the world, not founded
upon any fanciful explanation of terms, but deduced from
a sagacious developement of facts, which have hitherto
been concealed under perplexed and mistaken, but suf*
ficiently intelligible language. He has likewise supported
the conclusions which he has drawn by evidence collected
from sources not usually resorted to in such researches.
Several years ago, Dr. Willan made a collection of ob-
servations in about two thousand patients, with a view to
an investigation of medical physiognomy, or temperaments,
chiefly in regard to the diseases to which each variety of
temperament is peculiarly predisposed, and to the opera-
tion of medicines on them respectively. In the prosecu-
tion of this inquiry he procured several drawings (portraits)
illustrative of the characteristic marks of the more striking
varieties. He arrived at some interesting inferences re-'
specting both the physical and moral constitutions con-
nected with these external characters, but he did not deem
the matter sufficiently matured to lay 'Before the public.
^ In conclusion, we must not omit to mention a juvenile
work published by Dr. Willan, on a theological subject ;
namely, a <ffLife of Christ," related in the words of the
evangelists, of whose details he selected those parts re-
spectively which were most full ^nd explicit; and he il-
lustrated the whole by critical notes and explanations,
which were particularly full in regard to the diseases men-
tioned by those sacred writers. A second editiou of this
work, with additional illustrations, was published in 1802.1
WILLET (Andrew), a learned divine, was born in the
city of Ely in 1562. His father, Mr. Thomas Willet, was
sub-almoner to Edward VI. and a sufferer during the perse*
cutious in queen Mary's reign ; but in that of queen Eli*
zabeth, was preferred to the rectory of Barley in Hertford*
shire, and to a prebend in the church of Ely. His son,
who had been a very diligent and successful student while
at school, was sent in his fourteenth year to Peter-house,
1 Abridged from the Life of Dr. Willan, in the *¥ Edinburgh Medical and
Surgical Journal," No. 32; and obligingly cunmmnicated to us by the learned
author. Dr. Bateman, of Bloomsbury-tquare.
WILLET. 93
Cambridge) whence he afterwards removed to Christ's col-*
lege, and obtained a fellowship. After passing thirteen
years in the university, during which he afforded many
proofs of extraordinary application and talents, queen
Elizabeth gave him his father's prebend in Ely, about 1598,
the year his father died. One of his name was also rector
of Reed, in Middlesex, in 1613,. and of Chishall Parva,
in Essex, in 1620, but it is doubtful whether this was the
same person. Itseems more certain, however, that he had
the rectory of Childerley, in Cambridgeshire, and in 1597
tbat of Little Grantesden, in the same county, for which
betook in exchange the rectory of Barley, vacant by his
father's death. He was also chaplain to prince Henry.
About, this time he married a relation to Dr. Goad, by
whom be had eleven sons and seven daughters.
Dr. Willet was usually called a living library, from the
great extent of his reading and of his memory. He was
also not less admired as a preacher, not only in his parish,
but at<?ourt. He also obtained a great degree of celebrity
by his numerous publications, particularly his " Synopsis
Papism i ; or a general view of papistrie," a work dedicated
to the queen, which, although a folio of 1300 pages, passed
through five editions, and was much admired in both uni-
versities, and by the clergy and laity at large, as the best
refutation of popery, which had then appeared. He died
of the consequences of a fall from bis horse, at Hoddesdon,
tu Hertfordshire, Dec. 4, 1621, in the fifty-eighth year of
his age. He was interred in the chancel of Barley church,
where there is a representation of him at full length, in a
praying attitude, and with an inscription, partly Latin and
partly English.
Besides his " Synopsis Papismi," Dr. Willet was the
author of many works, principally commentaries on the
scriptures; as, 1. " Hexapla.on Genesis and JSxodus," fol.
1632. 2. « On Leviticus," l£3l, fol. 3. " On Daniel,"
1610, fol. 4. "On the Romans," 16 1 1, fol. &c. 5. «Trac-
tatus de Salomonis nuptiis, vel Epithalamium in nuptiis
inter Comlt. Palatinum et Elizabethan* Jacobi rfcgis filiam
unicam," 1612, 4to. 6. " De Gratia generi humano iti
primo parente collata, de lapsu Adami," &c. Leyden, 1609,
8vo. 7. " Thesaurus Ecclesi«," Camb. 1604, 8vo. 8. " De
animse natura et viribus." 9. " Sacra Emblemata," &©. &c.
with others, the titles of which are given very inaccurately
by his biographers. *•
*« W 1 L L E T.
On6 of his descendants was the late Ralph Willet, esq.
of Merly, in Dorsetshire, and founder and proprietor of
the celebrated Merly library, which was disposed of by
auction some months ago. !
WILLIAM of M ALMSBURY. See MALMSBURY-
WILLIAM of NANGIS. See NANGIS.
WILLIAMS (Anna), an ingenious English lady, was
the daughter of a surgeon and physician in South Wales,
where she was born in 1 706. Her father, Zachariah Wil-
liams, during his residence in Wales, imagined that be
bad discovered, by a kind of intuitive penetration, what
had escaped, the rest of mankind. He fancied that he had
been fortunate enough to ascertain the longitude by mag*
netism, and that the variations of the needle were equal,
at equal distances, east and west. The idea fired his
imagination \ and, prompted by ambition, and the hopes
of splendid recompence, heMetermined to leave bis bu-
siness and habitation for the metropolis. Miss William*
accompanied him, and they arrived in London about 1730;
but the bright views which had allured him from hit profes-
sion soon vanished. The rewards which he had promised
himself ended in disappointment; and the ill success of his
schemes may be inferred from the only recompence which
his journey and imagined discovery procured. He was
admitted a pensioner at the Charter-house. When Miss
Williams first resided in London, she devoted no inconsi-
derable portion of her time to its various amusements. She
visited every. object that, merited the inspection of a po-
lished and laudably- inquisitive mind, or could attract the
attention of a stranger. At a later period of life she spoke
familiarly of these scenes, of which the . impression was
never erased* though they must, however, have soon lost
their allurements. Mr. Williams did not long continue a
member of the Charter-house. A dispute with the masters
obliged him to remove from this asylum of age and po-
verty. In 1749 he published in 4to u A true JNarrativje,"
&c. of the treatment he had met with. He was now ex*-
posed to severe trials, and every succeeding day increased
the gloominess of his prospects. In 1740 Miss Williams
lost her sight by a cataract, which prevented her, in a
great measure, from assisting his distresses, and alleviating
1 Fuller's Abel Red i virus, and Barksdale's Remembrancer, in both of which
to Dr. Willet's life by his son-in-law Dr. Peter Smith. — Strype's Whitgift, p,
435, 543.— Ath. Ox. vol. I.— Nichols's Bowyer, vol. VHI.
\V t L L I A M & 91
his sorrows. ' She still, however, felt her passion for li-
terature equally predominant. She1 continued the same
attention to the neatness of her dress ; and, what is more
extraordinary, continued still the exercise bf her needle,
a branch of female accomplishment in which she had be-
fore displayed great excellence. During the lowness of
her fortune she worked for herself with nearly as much
dexterity and readiness as if she had not suffered a loss so
irreparable. Her powers of conversation retained their
former vigour. Her mind did not sink under these cala-
mities ; and the natural activity of her disposition ani-
mated her to uncommon exertions :
" Though fallen on evil days ;
On evil days though fallen ;
In darkness, and with dangers compass'd round,
And solitude !"
In 1746, notwithstanding her blindness, she published
the " Life of the emperor Julian, with notes, translated
from the French of F. La Bleterie." In this translation
she was assisted by two female friends, whose names were
Wilkinson. This book was printed by Bowyer, in whose
life, by Nichols, we are informed, that he contributed the
advertisement, and wrote the notes, in conjunction with
Mr. Clarke and others. The work was revised by Mark*
land and Clarke. It does not appear what pecuniary ad-
vantages Miss Williams might derive from this publication.
They were probably not very considerable, and afforded
only a temporary relief to the misfortunes of her father.
About this time, Mr. Williams, who imparted his afflictions
to all from whom he hoped consolation or assistance, told
his story to Dr. Samuel Johnson $ and, among other aggra-
vations of distress, mentioned his daughter's blindness. He
spoke of her acquirements in such high terms, that Mrs.
Johnson, who was then living, expressed a desire of seeing
her ; and accordingly she was soon afterwards brought to
the doctor's house by her father ; and Mrs. Johnson found
her possessed of such qualities as recommended her strongly
for a friend. As her own state of health, therefore, was
Weak, and ber husband was engaged during the greater
part of the day in his studies, she gave Miss Williams a
general invilation : a strict intimacy soon took place ; but
the enjoyment of their friendship did not continue long.
Soon after its commencement, Mrs. Johnson was attended
by her new companion in an illness which terminated fatally.
Vol. XXXII. H
98 WILLIAM &
/
4
Dr. Johnson still retained bis regard for her, and in \1&$+
by his recommendation, Mr. Sharp, the surgeon. Undertook
to perform the operation on Miss Williams's eyes, which is
usual in such cases, in hopes of restoring her sight. Her
own habitation was not judged convenient for the occasion.
She was, therefore, invited to the doctor's. The surgeon's
skill, however, proved fruitless, as the crystalline humour
was not sufficiently inspissated for the needle to take effect.
The recovery of her sight was pronounced impossible.
Afrer this dreadful sentence, she never left the roof whicb
had received her during the operation. The doctor's kind-
ness and conversation soothed her melancholy situation :
and her society seemed to alleviate the sorrows which his
late loss had occasioned.*
When Dr. Johnson, however, changed his residence, she
returned to lodgings ; and, in 1755, her father published a
book, in Italian and English, entitled "An Account of an
Attempt to ascertain the longitude at sea, by an exact
Theory of the magnetical Needle,"
In 1755, Mrs. Williams's, circumstances were rendered
more easy by the profits 'of a benefit-play, granted her by
the kindness of Mr. Garrick, from which she received 200/.
which was placed in the stocks. ' While Mrs. Williams en*
joyed so comfortable an asylum, her life passed in one even
tenour. It was chequered by none of those scenes which
enliven biography by their variety. The next event of any
consequence, in the history of Mrs. Williams, was the pub-
lication of a volume of " Miscellanies in Prose and Verse/'
in 1766. Her friends assisted her in the completion of
this book, by several voluntary contributions* and 100/.
which was laid out in a bridge-bond,' was added to her
little stock by the liberality of her subscribers. About
17G6,v Dr. Johnson removed from the Temple, where he
had lived, for some time, in chambers, to Johnson's-eourt,
Fleet-street, and again invited to his house the worthy
friend of Mrs. Johnson. The latter days of Mrs. Williams*
were now rendered easy and comfortable. Her wants were
few, and, to supply them, she made her income sufficient.
She still possessed an unalterable friend in Dr. Johnson*
Her acquaintance was select rather than numerous. Their
society made the infirmities of age less intolerable, and
communicated a cheerfulness to her situation, which soli-
tary blindness would otherwise have rendered truly de-
plorable.
WILLIAMS. &9
• She died at the house of her friend, in Bolt-court, Fleet-
street (whither they removed about 1775), on the 6th of
September, 1783, aged seventy-seven years. She be-
queathed all her little effects to a charity, which had been
instituted for the education of poor deserted girls, and sup-
ported by the voluntary contributions of several Jadies. '
WILLIAMS (Charles Hanbury), a statesman and wit
of considerable temporary fame, was the third son of John
Hanbury, esq. a South Sea Director, who died in 1734.
Charles, who in consequence of the will of his godfather,
Charles Williams, esq. of Caerleon, assumed the name of
Williams, was horn in 1709, and educated at Eton, where
he made considerable progress in classical literature ; and
having finished his studies, traveled through various parts
of Europe. Soon after his return he assumed the name of
Williams, obtained from his father the estate of Coldbrook,
' and espoused, in 1732, lady Frances Coningsby, youngest
daughter of Thomas, earl of Coningsby*
On the death of his father in 1733, he was elected mem-
ber of parliament for the county of Monmouth, and uni-
formly supported the administration of sir Robert Walpole,
whom be idolized ; he received from that minister many
early and confidential marks of esteem, and in 1739 was
was appointed by him paymaster of the marines. His
name occurs only twice as a speaker, in Chandler's de-
bates : but the substance of his speech is given in neither
instance. Sprightliness of conversation, ready wit, and
agreeable manners, introduced him to the acquaintance of'
men of the first talents.: he was the soul of the celebrated
coterie, of which the most conspicuous members were, lord
Hervey, Winnington, Horace Walpole, late earl of Orford*
Stephen Fox, earl of Ilchester, and Henry Fox, lord Hol-
land, with whom, in particular, be lived in the strictest habits
of intimacy and- friendship. At this period he distinguished
himself by political ballads remarkable for vivacity, keen-
ness- of invective, and ease of versification. In 1 746 he was
installed knight of the Bath, and soon after, appointed envoy
to the court of Dresden, a situation which he is said to have
solicited, that its employments might divert his grief for the
death of his friend Mr. Winnington. The votary of wit and
pleasure'was instantly transformed into a m£n of business,
» Gent, Mag. vols. XX. LIU. and LVIL-~London Mag. 1784.— Hawkbfi
Life of John8on.«-*-Boswe)l's Life of Johnson.— Nichols's Bowyar.
h a
100 W 1 L L 1 A to s.
and the author of satirical odes penned excellent dispatches*
He was well adapted for the office of a foreign minister,
and the lively, no less than the solid, parts of his character,
proved useful in his new employment; flow of conversa-
tion, sprightliness of wit, politeness of demeanour, ease of
address, conviviality of disposition, together with the de-
licacy of his table, attracted persons of all descriptions.
He had .an excellent tact for discriminating characters, hu-
mouring the foibles of those with whom he negociated, and
conciliating those by whom the great were either directly
or indirectly governed.
In 1749 be was appointed, at the express desire of the
king, to succeed Mr. Legge as minister plenipotentiary
at the court of Berlin; but in 1751 returned to his embassy
at Dresden. During hi» residence at these courts, he
transacted the affairs of England and Hanover with so
much address, that he was dispatched to Petersburg, in a
time of critical emergency, to conduct a negociation of
great delicacy and importance. The disputes concerning
the limits of Nova Scotia, and the possessions of North
America threatened a rupture between Great Britain and
France ; hostilities were on the point of commencing in
America, and France had resolved to invade the Low*
Countries, and the electorate of Hanover, and to excite a
continental war. With this view the cabinet of Versailles;
proposed to the king of Prussia, to co-operate in invading
the electorate, and attacking the dominions of the house
of Austria, hitherto the inseparable ally of England* The
British cabinet, alarmed at this aspect of affairs, formed a
plan of a triple alliance between Great Britain, Austria,
and Russia, and to promote the negociation, the king re-
paired to Hanover, accompanied by the earl of Holder-
nesse, secretary of state.
Sir Charles Hanbury Williams arrived at St. Petersburg
in the latter end of June ; the negociation had been already
opened by Mr. Guy Dickins,nvho lately occupied the post
of envoy to the court of Russia; but his character aud
manners were not calculated to ensure success* He was
treated with coldness and reserve by the empress, and had
rendered hipaself highly offensive to the great chancellor*
count Bestucheff. On the first appearance of the new am-
bassador, things immediately wore a favourable aspect ; at
bis presence all obstacles were instantly removed, and alt
difficulties vanished. The votary of wit and pleasure was.
WILLIAMS. 101
well received by the gay and voluptuous Elizabeth; he at-
tached to his cause the great duke, afterwards the unfortu-
nate Peter the Third; and his consort, the princess of
Anhalt Zerbst, who became conspicuous under the name
of Catherine the Second. All the ministers vied in loading
him with marks of attention and civility; be broke through
the usyal forms of etiquette, and united in his favour the
discordant views of the Russian cabinet) he conciliated the
unbending and suspicious Bestucheff; warmed the phleg-
matic temper of the vice-chancellor, count Voronaoff; and
gained the under agents, who were enabled, by petty in*
trigues and secret cabals, to thwart the intentions of the
principal ministers. He fulfilled literally the tenor of his
own expressions, that he would "make use of the honey*
moon of his ministry," to conclude the convention as
speedily as possible qft the best terms which could be ob-
tained : be executed the orders of the king, npt to sign
any treaty in which an attack on any of his majesty's allies,
or on any part of his electoral dominions, was not made a
casus fdtderis : in six weeks after his arrival at St. Peters-
burg, he obtained the signature, without using all the full
powers intrusted to him by the British cabinet, and instantly
transmitted it to Hanover.
His sanguine imagination exaggerated the merit of his
services; and he fondly expected air instantaneous answer
filled with expressions of high applause. Some time, how-
ever, elapsed before any answer arrived ; at length the ex-
pected messenger came ; he seized the dispatches, and
opened them with extreme impatience, in the presence of
his confidential friend, count Poniatowski, afterwards king
of Poland. In a few minutes he threw the letter which he
was reading on the floor, struck his forehead with both his
bands, and remained for some time absorbed in a deep re-
verie. Turning at length to count Poniatowski, he ex-
claimed, " Wall Id you think it possible ? Instead of re-
ceiving thanks for my zeal and activity in concluding the
convention, I am blamed for an informality in the signa-
ture, and the king is displeased with my efforts to serve
him." This interesting anecdote, Mr. Coxe, from whose
w Toqr in Monmouthshire" this life is abridged, received
from the late king of Poland himself in 1785. To the
same work we must refer for a particular detail of the in-
trigues which baffled the endeavours of sjr Charles, and in*
102 WILLIAMS.
daced bifn to make repeated and earnest entreaties, in con»
sequence of which, permission was granted for his return,
but he was induced to continue in his post until all his
efforts proved unsuccessful, and the empress coalesced with
Austria and France. In the midst of this arduous business
bis health rapidly declined, his head was occasionally af*
fected, and his mind distracted with vexation ; the irregu-
larities of his life irritated his nerves, and a fatiguing jour-
ney exhausted his spirits.
Soon after his arrival at Hamburgh, in the autumn of
1757, he was suddenly smitten with a woman of low in-*
trigue, gave her a note for 2000/. and a contract of mar-
riage, though his wife was still living : he also took large
doses of stimulating medicines, which affected his head,
and he was conveyed to England in a state of insanity.
During the passage, he fell from the deck into the hold,
and dangerously bruised his side ; be was blooded four
times on board, and four* times immediately after bis ar-
rival in England. In little more than a month be recovered,
and passed the summer at Coldbrook-house. But towards
the latter end of 1759, he relapsed into a state of insanity,
and expired on the second of November, aged fifty.
His official dispatches, says Mr. Cose, are written with
great life and spirit ; he delineates characters with truth
and facility ; and describes his diplomatic transactions witht
minuteness and accuracy, but without tediousness or for-
mality. His verses were highly prized by his contempo-
raries, but in perusing those which have been given to the
public, " Qdes, 1775, }2mo," and those which are still in
manuscript, tbe greater part are political effusions, or li-
centious lampoons, abounding with local wit and temporary
satire, eagerly read at the time of their appearance, but
little interesting to posterity. Three of his pieces, how-,
ever, deserve to be exempted from this general character ;
his poem of " Isabella, or the Morning," is remarkable for
ease of versification, and happy discrimination of character ;
his epitaph on Mr. Winnington is written with great feel-
ing; and his beautiful " Ode to Mr. Pointz," in honour of
the duke of Cumberland, breathes a spirit of sublimity *
which entitles the author to the rank of a poet, and excites
our regret that hU muse was not always employed on sub-
jects worthy of his talents.
He wrote a very julmisable paper in the World, No. 37,
WILLIAMS.
103
not noticed by Mr. Coxe, but which from the date appears
to have been the employment of a leisure hour when at St.
Petersburg.
Sir Charles left by his wife two daughters ; Frances, first
wife of William Anne, late earl of Essex, and Charlotte,
who espoused the honourable Robert Boyle Walsingham,
youngest son of the earl of Shannon, a commodore in the
navy. On his death without issue male, the estate and
mansion of Coldbrook came to his brother George, who
-died in 1764, and now belongs to his son John Hanbury
Williams, esq. the present proprietor. * '
WILLIAMS (Daniel), an eminent divine among the
dissenters, and a munificent benefactor to their and other
societies, both of the learned and charitable kind, was born
about 1644, at Wrexham, in the county of Denbigh, in
North Wales. No particulars are known of his parents,
or of his early years, but it appears that he laboured under
some disadvantages as to education, which, however, he
surmounted by spirit and perseverance. He says of him-
self, that "from five years old, he had no employment, but
his studies, and that by nineteen he was regularly admitted
a preacher." As this was among the nonconformists, it is
probable that his parents o* early connections lay among
that society. "As he entered on his ministry about 1663,
when the exercise of it was in danger of incurring the pe-
nalties of the law, he was induced to go to Ireland, and was
there invited to be chaplain to the countess of Meath.
Some time after he was called to be pastor to a eongra-
gatioti of dissenters assembling in Wood-street, Dtfblin,
in which situation he continued for nearly twenty years,
And was highly approved and useful. Here he married
his first wife, a lady of family and fortune, which last,
while it gave him a superior rank and consequence to
.many of his brethren, he contemplated only as the means
of doing good.
During the troubles in Ireland, at the latter end of the
reign of king James II. he found it necessary to return to
London in 1687, and resided in London. Here he was of
great use upon a very critical occasion. Some of the court
agents at that time endeavoured to bring the dissenters
in the city to address the king upon his dispensing with
<the penal laws. In a conference at one of their meetings
1 Cttye'i Tour la Monmouthshire.
104 WILLIAMS.
upon that occasion, in the presence of some of the agents,
Mr. Williams declared, " That it was with him past doubt,
that the severities of the former reign upon the protestant
dissenters were, rather as they stood in the way of arbitrary
power, than for their religious dissent So it were better
for them to be reduced to their former hardships, than
declare for measures destructive of the liberties of their
country ; and that for himself, before he would concur in
?uch an address, which should be thought an approbation
pf the dispensing power, he would choose to lay down his
liberty at his majesty's feet." He pursued the argument
with sqcb clearness and strength, that all present rejected
the motion, and the emissaries went away disappointed.
There was a meeting at the same time of a considerable
number of the city clergy, waiting the issue of their deli-
beration, who were greatly animated and encouraged by
this resolution of the dissenting ministers. Very recent
experience has shewn how much Mr. Williams differs in
this matter from his descendants, many of whom have been
the professed advocates for what is called catholic eman-
cipation.
After the revolution, Mr. Williams was not only fire?
quently consulted by king William concerning Irish affairs,
with which he was well acquainted, but often regarded at
court on behalf of several who fled from Ireland, and were
capable of doing service to government. He received
great acknowledgments and thanks upon this* account, when,
in 1700, he went b^ck to that country to visit his old friends,
and to settle some affairs, relative to his estate in that king-
dom. After preaching for some time occasionally in Lon-
don, he became pastor of a numerous congregation at
Band-alley in Eisbopsgate- street in 1688, and upqq the
death of the celebrated Richard Baxter in 1691, by whom
he was greatly esteemed, he succeeded him as one of those
who preached the merchants1 -lecture, at Pinners'- ball,
Broad-street* But it was not long before the frequent
clashings in the discourses of these lecturers caused a di-
vision. Mr. Williams bad preached warmly against soqie
antinomian tenets, which giving offence to many persons,
a design was formed to exclude him from the lecture.
Upon this he, with Dr. Bates, Mr. Howe, and Mr. Alsop,
&c. retired and raised another lecture at Salter's,- hall on
the same day and hour. This division was soon after in-
creased by the publication of some of Dr. Crisp's works.
WILLIAMS. 105
(See Crisp) and a controversy took place as to the more
or less of antinpmianism in these works, which lasted for
some years, and was attended with much intemperance
and personal animosity. What is rather remarkable, the
contending parties appealed to bishop Stillingfleet, and
Dr. Jonathan Edwards of Oxford, who both approved of
what Mr. Williams had done. Mr. Williams's chief pub-
lication on the subject was entitled " Gospel Truth stated
and vindicated," 1691, 12mo. The controversy by his
friends was called the antinomian, but by Dr. Crisp's ad-
vocates the neonomian controversy. Mr. Williams was not
only reckoned a heretic, but attempts were even made to
injure bis moral character, which, however, were defeated
by tbe unanimous testimony of all who knew him, or took
the trouble to inquire into the ground of such accusations.
In his congregation, it is said, he lost no friend.
Some time after the death of his* wife, be married in
1701, as his second, Jaoe, the widow of Mr. Francis Bark*
Stead, and the daughter of one Guill, a French refugee;
by her also he had a very considerable fortune, which he
devoted to the purposes of liberality. Of his political sen-
timents, we learn only, that he was an enemy to the bill
against occasional conformity, and a staunch friend' to tbe
union with Scotland. When on a visit to that country in
1709, he received a diploma for the degree of D. D. from
the university of Edinburgh, and another from Glasgow.
One of his biographers gives us the following account of
bis conduct on this occasion. " He was so far from seek-
ing or expecting this honour, that be was greatly displeased
with the occ&sion of it, and with great modesty he en-
treated Mr. Carstairs, the principal of the college at Edin-
burgh, to prevent it. But the dispatch was made before
that desire of his could reach them. I have often heard
bim express his dislike of the thing itself, and much more
his distaste at the officious vanity of some who thought
they had much obliged him when they moved for the pro-
puring it; and this, not that he despised the honour of
being a graduate in form in that profession in which he
was now a truly reverend father; nor in the least, that he
refused to receive any favours from the ministers of the
church of Scotland, for whom he preserved a very great
esteem, and on many occasions gave signal testimonies of
his respect; but he thought it savoured of an extraordinary
Vanity, that the English presbyterians should accept a no-
106 WILLIAMS.
initial distinction, which' the ministers of the church of
Scotland declined' for themselves, and did so lest it should
break in upomhat parity which J hey so severely maintained ;
which parity among the ministers of the gospel? the pres-
byterians in England acknowledged also to be agreeable to
that scripture rute, * Whosoever will be greatest among
you let him be as the younger,' Luke xxii. 26 ; and Matt,
xxiii. 8, * Be ye not called Rabbi,* of which text a learned
writer says, it should have been translated, ' Be ye not
called doctors ;' and the Jewish writers and expositors of
their law, are by some authors styled Jewish Rabbins, by
others, and that more frequently, doctors, &c. &c." Our
readers need scarcely be told that this is another point on
which Dr. Williams differs much from his successors, who
are as ambitious of the honour of being called doctor, as
be was to avoid it.
In the latter end of queen Anne's reign, our author ap-
pears to have had extraordinary fears respecting the pro-
testant succession, and that he corresponded very freely
with the earl of Oxford upon that subject, who, however,
discovering that he had been yet more free in his senti-
ments in another and more private correspondence, with-
drew his friendship from him. Soon after, the accession
of George I. dispelled his fears, and he was at the head of
a body of the dissenting ministers, who addressed his ma-
jesty on thfet auspicious occasion.
Dr. Williams died, after a short illness, Jan. 26, 1715-
16, in the seventy-third year of his age. He appears to
have been a man of very considerable abilities, and having
acquired an independent fortune, had great weight both as
a member of the dissenting interest, and as a politician in
general. As he had spent much of his life in benevolent ac-
tions, at his death he fully evinced, that they were the go-
verning principles of his character. The bulk of his estate
he bequeathed to a great variety of charities. Besides the set-
tlement on his wife, and legacies to his relations and friends,
be left donations for the education of youth in Dublin, and
for an itinerant preacher to the native Irish ; to the poor
in Wood-street congregation, and to that in Hand-alley,
where he had been successively preacher; to the French
refugees; to the poor of Shoreditch parish, where he
lived; to several ministers9 widows; to St. Thomas's hos-
pital ; to the London workhouse ; to several presbyteriaa
WILLIAMS. 101
meetings in the country ; to the college of Glasgow ; to
the society for the reformation of manners ; to the society
of Scotland for propagating Christian knowledge ; to the
society for New- England, to support two persons to preach
to the Indians ; to the maintaining of charity-schools in
Wales, and the support of students ; for the distribution
of Bibles, and pious books among the poor, &c. He also
ordered a convenient building to be purchased, or erected,
for the reception- of his own library, and the curious col-
lection of Dr. Bates, which he purchased for that purpose,
at the expence of between five and six hundred pounds.
Accordingly, a considerable number of years after his death,
a commodious building was erected by subscription among
the opulent dissenters, in Redcross-street, Cripplegate,
where the doctor's books were deposited, and by subse-
quent additions, the collection has become a very consider-
able one. It is also a depository for paintings of, noncon-
formist ministers, which are now very numerous ; of ma-
nuscripts, and other matters of curiosity or utility. In
this place, the dissenting ministers meet for transacting all
business relating to the general body. Registers of births
of the children of protestaut dissenters are also kept here
with accuracy, and have been, in the courts of law, allowed
equal validity with parish registers. The librarian, who
resides in the house, is usually a minister, chosen from
among the English presbyterians, to which denomination
the founder belonged. Dr. Williams's publications, be-
sides his " Gospel Truth stated," are chiefly sermons
preached on occasion of ordinations, or funerals. These
were published together in 1738, 2 vols. 3vo, with some
account of his life. *
WILLIAMS (David), a literary and religious projector
of some note, was born at a village near Cardigan, in 1738,
and after receiving the rudiments of education, was placed
in a school or college at Carmarthen, preparatory to the
dissenting ministry ; which profession he' entered upon in
obedience to parental authority, but very contrary to his
own inclination. His abilities and acquirements even then
appeajred of a superior order ; but he has often in the lat-
ter part of his life stated to the writer of his memoirs, in
the Gentleman's Magazine, that he bad long considered it
1 Calamy.— Gen. Diet. — Memoirs of his Life, 1718, Svo. — Wilson's Hist, of
Dissentiug Churches. — The best accoupt of the controversy relating to Dr. Crisp
Is in Nelson's Jjfc of bishop Bull, pp. 259—276,
108 WILLIAMS. ,
as a severe misfortune, that the most injurious impressions
were made upon his youthful' and ardent mind by the cold,
austere, oppressive, and unamiable manner in which the
doctrines and duties of religion were disguised in the stern
ai\d rigid habits of a severe puritanical master. From this
college be took the office of teacher to a small congrega-
tion at Fro me, in Somersetshire, and after a short resi-
dence was removed to a more weighty charge at Exeter.
There the eminent abilities and engaging manners of the
young preacher opened to him the seductive path of plea-
sure ; when the reproof that some elder members of thd
society thought necessary, being administered in a manner
to awaken resentment rather than contrition ; and the eagle
eye of anger discovering in bis accusers imperfections of a
different character indeed, but of tendency little suited to
a public disclosure, the threatened recrimination suspended
the proceedings, and an accommodatipn took place, by
which Mr. Williams left Exeter, and was engaged to the
superintendence of a dissenting congregation at Highgate.
After a residence there of a year or two, he made his first
appearance in 1770, as an author, by a " Letter to David
Garrick," a judicious and masterly, critique on the actor,
but a sarcastic personal attack on the man, intended to
rescue Mossop from the supposed unjust displeasure of the
modern Roscias: this effect was produced, Mossop was
liberated, and the letter withdrawn from the booksellers.
Shortly after appeared "The Philosopher, in three Con-
versations,1' which were much read, and attracted con-
siderable notice. This was soon followed by " Essays on
Public Worship, Patriotism, and Projects of Reformation;"
written and published upon the occasion of the leading re-
ligious controversy of the day ; but though they obtained
considerable circulation, they appear not to have softened
the asperities of either of the contending parties. The
Appendix to these Essays gave a strong indication of that
detestation of intolerance, bigotry, and hypocrisy which
formed the leading character of his subsequent life, and
which bad been gradually taking possession ef his mind
from the conduct of some of the circle of associates into
which his profession had thrown him.
He published two volumes of " Sermons," chiefly upon
Religious Hypocrisy, and then discontinued the exercise
of his profession, and his connection with the body of dis-
senters. He now turned his thoughts to the education of
WILLIAMS. 10*
youth, and in 1773, published "A Treatise on Education,*'
recommending a method founded on the plans of Comme-
nius and Rousseau, which he proposed to carry into effect.
He took a house in Lawrence-street, Chelsea, married a
young lady not distinguished either by fortune or connec-
tion, and soon found himself at the head of a lucrative and
prosperous establishment. A severe domestic misfortune
in the death of bis wife blighted this prospect of fame and
fortune : his fortitude sunk under the shock ; his anxious
attendance upon her illness injured his own health, the in-
ternal concerns of the family became disarranged, and he
left his bouse and his institution, to which he never again
returned.
During his residence at Chelsea, he became a member
of a select club of political and literary characters, to one
of whom, the celebrated Benjamin Franklin, he afforded
an asylum in his house at Chelsea during the popular fer-
ment against bim, about the time of the commencement of
the American war. In this club was formed the plan of
public worship intended to unite all parties and persuasions
in one comprehensive form. Mr. Williams drew up and
published^ " A Liturgy on the universal principles of Re-
ligion and Morality ;" and afterwards printed two volumes
of Lectures, delivered with this Liturgy at the chapel in
Margaret-street, Cavendish-square, opened April 7, 1776.
This service continued about four years, but with so little
public support, that the expence of the establishment
nearly involved the lecturer in the loss of his liberty- As
the plan proposed to include in one act of public worship
every class of men who acknowledged the being of a God,
and the utility of public prayer and praise, it necessarily
left unnoticed every other point of doctrine; intending,
that without expressing them in public worship, every man
should be left in unmolested possession of his own peculiar
opinions in private. This, however, would not satisfy any
of the various classes and divisions of Christians ; it was
equally obnoxious to the churchman and to the dissenter;
and as even the original proposers, though consisting only
of five or six, could not long agree, several of them at-
tempting to obtain a more marked expression of their own
peculiar opinions and dogmas, the plan necessarily expired.
Mr. Williams now occupied his time and talents in assisting
gentlemen whose education had been defective, and in-
forwarding their qualifications for the senate, the diplo-
110 W I L L i A M S.
>
macy, and the learned professions. In this employment
he prepared, and subsequently published, " Lectures on
Political Principles," and " Lectures oti Education,1' in
3 vols. His abilities also were ever most readily and cheer*
fully employed in the cause of friendship and benevolence ;
and many persons under injury and distress have to ac-
knowledge the lasting benefit of his energetic and power-
ful pen.
During the alarm in 1780 he published a tract, entitled
11 A Plan of Association on Constitutional Principles ;,f
and in 1732, on occasion of the county meetings and asso-
ciations, he gave to the public his " Letters on Political
Liberty;" the most important perhaps of all his works; it
was extensively circulated both in England and France,
having been translated into French by Brissot, and was the
occasion of its author being invited to Paris, to assist in
the formation of a constitution for that country. He con*
tinued about six months in Paris ; and on the death of the
Icing, and declaration of war against this country, took leave
of his friends of the Girondist party, with an almost pro-
phetic intimation of the fate that awaited them. He
brought with him on bis return a letter from the ttfinister of
war, addressed to lord Grenville, and intended to give Mr*
Williams, who was fully and confidentially entrusted with
the private sentiments and wishes of the persons then in
actual possession of the government of France, an oppor-
tunity of conveying those sentiments and wishes to the
British ministry. Mr. Williams delivered the letter into
the hands of Mr. Aust, the under secretary of state, but
never heard from lord Grenville on the subject Some
further curious circumstances relating to this transaction
are detailed in a page or two, corrected by Mr. Williams
himself, in Bisset's " History of George III.'*
Previously to receiving this invitation he had removed
from Russell-street to Brompton, for the purpose of exe->
cuting an engagement he had formed with Mr. Bowyer, to
superintend the splendid edition of Hume, and write a
continuation of the history; but after his return from.
France he found himself in an extraordinary situation, for
at the very time he had been denounced in France as a
royalist, he had been branded in his own^ country as a de-
mocrat; and he was informed that his engagement respect-
ing the History of England could not be carried into effect,,
inconsequence, as it was stated, of an intimation having
WILLIAMS. Ill
Veen given that the privilege of dedication to the crown
would be withdrawn if he continued the work. About this
time he published the " Lessons to a young Prince," and
engaged in, and afterwards executed, the "History of
Monmouthshire," in one vol. 4to, with plates by bis friend
the rev. John Gardnor.
With regard to the circumstance upon which he always
seemed inclined to rest his fame, and which was most dear
to his heart — the establishment of the Literary Fund, he
had, so far back as the time of his residence at Chelsea,
projected a plan for the assistance of deserving authors in
distress ; and after several ineffectual attempts, be so far
succeeded in 1788 and 1789 as to found the institution,
and commence its benevolent operations, and with unre-
mitting zeal and activity devoted the full force of his abili-
ties, and the greater part of his time and attention, to
foster and support the infant institution. He had the
heartfelt satisfaction of seeing it continually rise in public
estimation, and at length honoured with the illustrious pa-
tronage of his royal highness the prince of Wales, who
generously bestowed an annual donation for the purpose of
providing^ house for the use of the society, and expressly
desired that Mr. Williams should reside in it. A singular
and striking work, written by Mr. Williams and several of
his zealous and able coadjutors, who each put their names
to their own several productions, was given by the public
under the title of " The Claims of Literature ; explanatory
of the Nature, Formation, and Purposes of the Institution."
During the pe^ce of Amiens Mr. Williams again visited
Paris, and is supposed to have been then intrusted with,
some confidential mission from the government of his own
country, his remarkable figure . having previously been
noticed entering the houses of several of the higher mem-
bers of the then administration. On his return he published
a much enlarged edition of a little work which the alarm of
invasion had induced him to write, entitled " Regulations
of Parochial Police ;" and he is thought to have been the
author of a sort of periodical publication which appeared
about that time in numbers, " Egeria ; or Elementary Stu-
dies on the Progress of Nations in Political Economy,
Legislation, and Government;" but which does not ap*
pear to have been continued beyond the first volume*
The last acknowledged work that proceeded from his
prolific pen was, " Preparatory Studies for Political Re-
114 WILLIAMS.
formers.*' It is curi6us arid instructive to observe the
marked and striking effect produced by his experience
of reform and reformers in the struggles of, and conse^
quent upon, the French revolution; his diction retain?
its full vigour, but his anticipations are much less san-
guine, and his opinions on the pliability of the materials ore
wjiich reformers are to operate, or in other words, on the
real character of human nature, seem much changed. About
five years before his death he was seized with a severe pa-
ralytic affection, from which he partially recovered, but
continued to suffer the gradual loss of his corfwreal and
mental powers ; his memory becapie very considerably
impaired, and for some length of time preceding his de-
cease he was unable to walk or move without assistance*
The tender assiduities of an affectionate niece soothed the
sorrows of declining nature, and received from him the
most affecting and frequent expressions of gratitude. The
state of his mind cannot be so well depicted as by himself
in the following letter, one of the last he ever wrote, and
addressed to a clergyman of the church of England, in the
country :
"Dear Sir,
" I am now drawing near my end, and am desirous tor
conclude my days in peace. I have outlived almost all my
t el&tions and all- my acquaintance ; and I am desirous tc>'
exchange the most sincere and cordial forgiveness with
those I have \n any sort offended. I bad once a great re-
gard for you ; why it was not continued I have forgotten.
Indeed, a paralytic stroke has greatly destroyed my me-
mory, and will soon destroy me. I take leave of my Friends*
and acquaintance ; among others I takg leave of you. I
greatly esteemed you and your worthy father, and I hope
you will only remember what you saw commendable and
good in me, and believe me very sincerely yours. D. W.**
It will readily be supposed that this letter brought the
gentleman immediately to town ; and his friendly offices of
kindness contributed very much during the last two years
to the comfort and consolation of his suffering friend, wha
breathed his last on Saturday morning, the 29 th of June
i£16, and was interred the Saturday following, in St.
Anne's church, Soho, under this inscription :
David Williams, esq. aged 78 years ;
- Founder of the Literary Fund.
In the words of bis friend, captain Thomas Morris, " The
WILLIAMS. 113
distinguishing traits of Mr. Williams's character were, a
boundless philanthropy and disinterestedness ; studious of
every acquisition that forms the taste, but applying the
strength of his genius to the arts of government and edu-
cation as objects of the highest importance to the .welfare
of nations and the happiness of individuals. In his dress
elegantly plain ; in domestic life attentive to the niceties
of decorum ; in public politely ceremonious ; in all his
Aann'ers digniBed and distinguished ; in conversation ele-
vated ; in his person tall and agreeable, having a com-
manding look softened with affability."
A review of the life and writings of this remarkably gifted
man strongly illustrates the observation, that political and
moral philosophy, theories of government and education,
even when displayed with splendid ability, and enforced
with the most engaging benevolence, and with the best
and most earnest motives of doing good, are found by a
painful experience to be wholly inadequate to the task of
reforming mankind, if employed without the aid of Chris-
tianity ; it is the Gospel alone that can reach the weak and
erring heart of man, and found the reformation and inv
provement of societies upon the purity, the virtue, and the
piety of individuals. But to this very necessary knowledge
Mr. Williams was a stranger. In early life he appears to
have formed himself on the model of the Voltaires, Rous-
;}eaus} D'Alemberts, and other French writers of a similar
stamp. They unfortunately had to operate on weak minds,
And produced incalculable mischief. David Williams, by
winging forward his opinions and his schemes in a country
where genuine religion is understood, and at all times ably
defended, sunk under the argument and ridicule which he
had to encounter, anil became a harmless visionary. *
WILLIAMS (Griffith), bishop of 0§sory, in Ireland,
was born at Caernarvon, in North Wales, about 1589. In
1603 he was sent to Oxford by his uncle ; but this relation
failing to support him, he was, after two years, received
at Cambridge by the kindness of a friend, and admitted of
Jesus college, where he took his degrees in arts, and after
entering into holy orders, was appointed curate of Han-
well, in Middlesex. Afterwards the earl of Southampton
gave him the rectory of Foscot, in Buckinghamshire; and
he was for some years lecturer of St. Peter's, Cheapside,
■ Gent Ma*. ▼«'• LXXXVI.
Vol. XXXII. I
•ii4 * Williams.
London. While in this situation, he informs us, u b»
persecutions began from the puritans/' who took offence
at something he had preached and printed ; and it was now
he published his first book, called " The Resolution of Pi-
Jate*"v which neither Harris nor Wood mention among his
works ; and another called " The Delight of the Saints.
A most comfortable treatise of grace and peace, and many
other excellent points., whereby men may live like saints
on earth, and become true saints in heaven,7* LoncL 1622,
fol. reprinted 1635. His boldness in the pulpit raised him
many enemies, but their persecutions were for some time
of no avail, until at length they prevailed on the bishop of
London to suspend him. This appears to have been in his
twenty-severith year, when, notwithstanding, he went back
to Cambridge and took his degree of B. D. On his return
to London he found friends in Abbot, archbishop of Can-
terbury, and in the chancellor Egerton, who gave him the
living of Llan-Lecbyd, in the diocese of Bangor, worth
1002. and a better rectory than what he was suspended from
by the bishop of London. He now found a new enemy.
Refusing another living in exchange for what he had jus*
got, the bishop of Bangor presented certain articles against
him ?t officio, and he was again obliged to appeal to the
Arcfies. The bishop of Bangor being in town,, the arch*
bishop of Canterbury sent for them both, and checked the
bishop for his prosecution, and gave Mr. Williams a licence
to preach through several dioceses of his province.
After remaining four years in the diocese of Bangor, in
which the bishop's conduct made him uneasy, hie went to>
Cambridge, and took his. degree of D. D. and returning to
London became domestic chaplain to the earl of Mont*
gomery (afterwards earl of Pembroke) and tutor to hfe»
children, and was promoted to be chaplain to the king,
prebendary of Westminster, and deati of Bangor, to the
last of which preferments he was instituted March 28, 1634;
and he held this deanery in commeudam till his death. He
says that, " before he was forty years old, he narrowly
escaped being elected bishop of St. Asaph.'*' He remained:
in the enjoyment of these preferments about twelve years,,
and in 1641 was advanced to the bishopric of Ossory, but
the Irish rebellion breaking out in less than a month after
his consecration, he was forced to take refuge in England,
and joined the eourt, being in attendance on bis majesty,
as one of his chaplains, at the battle of Edg$-hill> Oct. 23,
WILLIAMS. US
1642. He remained also with the king during the greater
part of the winter at Oxford, and then retired to Wales to
be at more leisure to write his " Discovery of Mysteries,*
or the plots of the parliament to overthrow both church
and state/' published at Oxford, 1643, 4to. In the fol-
lowing year be published his " Jura majestatis ; the rights
of kings both in church and state, granted, first by God,
secondly, violated by rebels, and thirdly, vindicated by
the truth,9' Oxford, 4to. * lie had also published in 1643,
at the same place, "Vindiciae re gum, or the Grand Re<-
bellion," &c.
In the mean time he was employed to go to London to
try to bring over the earl of Pembroke to the royal cause
(two of whose sons were with the king at Oxford, and had
been the bishop's pupils). This task he undertook, sur-
rounded as it was with danger, and obnoxious as he knew
himself to be by his publications. The negociation failed,
and the earl was so incensed, that Dr. Williams had rea-
son to think he would deliver him up to parliament, who
had recently ordered his last mentioned publication to be
burnt. He contrived, therefore, and not without some
difficulty, to obtain a pass from the lord mayor of London,
"as a poor pillaged preacher of Ireland," and by this
means got to Northampton, and thence to Oxford, whence
he went first to Wales, and then to Ireland, where he re-
mained until after the battle of Naseby, in 1645.
After this be underwent a series of hardships for his
loyalty, and lived sometimes in Wales and sometimes in
Ireland, in a very precarious way, until the restoration.
As soon as he heard the first news of that event he went to
Dublin, And preaching on the day of his arrival at St.
Bride's, was the first man in Ireland who publicly prayed
for the king. He then repaired to his diocese, and finding
his palace as well as his cathedral in ruins, set himself to
repair both, but found many difficulties, and was involved
in many law-suits before he could recover the revenues
belonging to the see. He appears to have been perfectly
disinterested, for, besides what he laid out on these re-
pairs, he devoted the greater part of his income to cha-
ritable purposes. He died at Kilkenny, March 29, 1672,
in the eighty-third year of his age, and was buried on the
south-side of the chancel of the cathedral.
Bishop Williams's other works were, 1. " Seven golden
candlesticks, holding the seven greatest lights of Christian
I 2
116 W.II/LIAM&
Religion," Lond.,1627, 4to. 2. * The True Church shewed
to all men that desire to be members of the same : in six
books, containing the whole body of divinity," ibid. 1629,.
fol. $.' " The right way to the best Religion; wherein is
largely explained the sum and principal heads of the Gospel*
in certain sermons and treatises," ibid. 1636, fol. 4. " The
great Antichrist revealed/' ibid. 1660, fol. In this he at-
tempted to prove that Antichrist was neither pope, nor
Turk, nor any one person, but the party which overthrew
the church and state. He published also some other trea-
tises arising from the circumstances of the times, and many
sermons afterwards published collectively, in 1662, fol.
and 1666, 4to. His most curious production, and from
which the preceding circumstances of his life are taken, is
entitled " The persecution and oppression of John Bale,
and Griffith Williams, bishops of Ossory," Lond. 1664,
4to. In this he institutes a parallel between bishop Bale
and himself, as promoted to the same see at the mere mo-
tion of kings, without any interest or application ; both
violently expelled from the same house ; both their perse-
cutions occasioned by their pulpit performances; the one
by popish, the other by puritan adversaries ;> both their
dangers by sea were great ; both persecuted by false ac-
cusers ; to which Mr. Harris adds, " the same licentious
spirit of railing appears in their writings, which tyb apology
can excuse." !
WILLIAMS (John), an English prelate of great abilities
end very distinguished character., was the youngest son of
Edward Williams, esq. of Aber-Conway, in Caernarvon-
shire, in Wales, where he was born March 25, 1582. He
Was educated at the public school at Ruthin, in 1598, and
at sixteen years of age admitted at St. John's college, in
Cambridge. His natural parts were very uncommon, and
his application still more so j for he was of so singular and
happy a constitution, that from his youth upwards he never
required more than three hours sleep out of the twenty-
four for the purposes of perfect health. He took' the de-
gree of A. B. in 1602, and was made fellow of his college -f
yet this first piece of preferment was obtained by a manda-
mus from James I. His manner of studying had something
particular in it. He used to allot one month to a certain
province, esteeming variety almost as refreshing as cessa-
1 Aib. Ox. vol. II.— Harris's edition of Ware's Works,
WILLIAMS. 117
tiofi from labour; at the end of which he would take qp
some other subject, and so on, till he came round, to his
former courses. This method he observed, especially in
his theological studies; and he found his account in it. He
was also an exact philosopher, as well as ah able' divine,
and admirably versed in all branches of literature. In 1605,
when he took hi* master's degree, he entertained bis friends
at the commencement in a splendid manner, for he was
naturally generous, and was liberally supplied with money
by his friends and patrons. John lord Lumley often fur*
nished him both with books and money ; and Dr. Richard
Vaughan, bishop of London, who was related to him, gave
him an invitation to spend his time at his palace at vacation
times. Being thus introduced into the best company, con-
tributed greatly towards polishing bis manners.
He was not, however, so much distinguished for his
learning, as for his dexterity and skill in business. When
he was no more than five and twenty, he was employed by
the college in some concerns of theirs ; on which occasions
he was sometimes admitted to speak before archbishop
Bancroft, wh6 was exceedingly taken with his engaging
wit and decent behaviour. Another time he was deputed,
by the masters and fellows of his college, their agent to
court, to petition the king for a mortmain, a* an increase
of their maintenance; on this occasion he succeeded iu his
suit, and was taken particular notice of by the king ; for,
there was something in him which his majesty liked so well,
that he told him of it long after when he came to be bis
principal officer. He entered into orders in his twenty*
seventh year ; and took a small living, which lay beyond
St. Edmund's Bury, upon the confines of Norfolk. In
1611 he was instituted to the rectory of Grafton Regis, in
Northamptonshire, at the king's presentation ; and the
same year was recommended to the lord-chancellor Eger-
ton for his chaplain, but obtained leave of the chancellor
to continue one year longer at Cambridge, in order to
serve the office of proctor of the university. While Mr.
Williams was in this post, the duke of Wirtemberg and his
train happened to pay a visit to the university. The duke
having the reputation of a learned prince, it was thought
proper to entertain him with learned disputations. Mr.
Williams being on this occasion president or moderator,
performed his part with equal skill and address. Out of
compliment to the duke he confirmed all his reasons with
It8 WILLIAMS.
quotations from, the eminent professors of the German tini-
rersities, which was so acceptable to the duke and his re-
tinue, that they would not part with Mr. Williams from
their company while they continued at Cambridge, and
afterwards .carried him with them to the palace at New-
market, and acquainted the king with the honour he had
done to the literati of their country. The following year
Mr. Williams took the degree of B. D, and afterward?
chiefly resided in the house of his patron, lord Egerton,
who advised with him on many occasions, and testified his
regard for him by various promotions, particularly the
reetory of Grafton Underwood, in Northamptonshire ; afed
in 1613 he was made precentor of Lincoln; rector of
Waldgrave, in Northamptonshire, in 1614; and between
that year and 1617 was collated to a prebend and resi-
dentiaryship in the church of Lincoln, and to prebends in
those of Peterborough, Hereford, and St: David's, besides
a sinecure in North Wales.
The chancellor Egerton dying the 15th of March, 1616*
17, gave Williams some books and papers, all written with
bis own hand. His lordship, upon the day of his death,
called Williams to him, and told him " that if he wanted
money be would leave him such a legacy in his will as
should enable him to begin the world like a gentleman."
" Sir/9 days Williams, " I kiss your hands : you have filled
my cup full ; I am far from want, unless it be of your
lordship's directions how to live in the world if I survive
you." " Well," said the chancellor, " I know you are
an expert. workman ; take these tools to work with; they
are the best I have ;" and so gave him the books and papers.
Bishop Hacket says that he saw the notes ; and that they
were collections for the well-ordering the high court of
parliament, the court of chancery, the star-chamber, and
the council-board : so that be had a good stock tp set qp
with ; and Hacket does not doubt but his system of politics
was drawn from chancellor Egetton's papers.
When s\r Francis Bacon was made lord keeper, he of-
fered to continue Williams his chaplain ; who, however,
declining it, was made a justice of the peace by bis lord-
ship for the county of Northampton. He was made king's
chaplain at the same time, and had orders to attend his
majesty in his northern progress, which was to begin soon
after ; but the bishop of Winchester got leave for bim to
stay and to take his doctor's degree, for the sake of giving
WILLIAMS. 119
entertainment to Marco Antonio de Dominis, archbishop
ofSpalato, who was lately come to England, and desigped
to be at Cambridge the commencement following. The
questions which he maintained for his degree were, " Su-
premus magistratus non estexcommunicabilis," and "Sub-
ductio calicis est mutilatio sacramenti et sacerdotii." Dr.
Williams now retired to his rectory ofWaldgrave, where
he had been at the expence, before he came, of building,
gardening, and planting, to render it an agreeable resi-
dence. He bad also provided a choice collection of books,
which he studied with his usual diligence. As a minister
he was very attentive to the duties of bis function. He
read prayers constantly on Wednesdays and Fridays, and
preached twice every Sunday at Waldgrave, or at Grafton ;
performing in bis turn also at Kettering, in a lecture
preached by an association of the best divines in that
neighbourhood. It was a common saying with him, that
" the way to gee the credit from the nonconformists was,
to put-preach them." And his preaching was so much
liked that his church used to be thronged with the gentry
of the neighbouring parishes as well as his own. In the
mean time, he was most of all distinguished for his ex-
tensive charities to the poor ; tbe decrepid, the aged, the
widow, and the fatherless, were sure of a welcome share in
" his hospitality.
In 1619 Dr. Williams preached before tbe king on Matth.
ii. 8, and printed his sermon by bis majesty's order. The
same year he was collated to the deanery of Salisbury, and
the year after removed to the deanery of Westminster. He
obtained this preferment by the interest of the marquis of
Buckingham, whom for some time he neglected to court,
says bishop Hacket, for two reasons; first, because he
mightily suspected the continuance of tbe marquis in fa-
vour at court ; secondly, because be saw that the marquis
was very apt suddenly to look cloudy upon his creatures,
as if he had raised them up on purpose to cast them down.
However,' once, when the doctor was attending the king,
in the absence pf the marquis, his majesty asked him
abruptly, and without any relation to the discourse then in
hand, " When he was at Buckingham ?" " Sir," said the
doctor, " I have had no business to resort to his lordship."
"But," replied tbe king, " wheresoever he is, you must
go to him about my business ;" which be accordingly did,
and tbe marquis received him courteously. He took this
120 WILLIAMS.
as a hint from the king to visit the marquis, to whom he
was afterwards serviceable in furthering his marriage with
the great heiress, the earl of Rutland's daughter. He re-
claimed her ladyship from the errors of the Church of
Rome to the faith and profession of the Church of England ;
in order to which he drew up the elements of the true re-
ligion for her use, and printed twenty copies of it with no
name, only, "By an old prebend of Westminster."
The lord chancellor Bacon being removed from his office
in May 1621, Williams was made lord keeper of the gFeat
seal of England, the 10th of July following ; and the same
month bishop of Lincoln, with the deanery of Westminster,
and the rectory of Wakl grave, in commendam. ~ When the
great seal was brought to the king from lord Bacon, his
majesty was overheard by some near him to say, upon the
delivery of it to hirri, " Now by my soule, 1 am pained at
the heart where to bestow this ; for, as to my lawyers, I
thinke they be all knaves.19 In this high office bishop Wil-
liams discharged his duties with eminent ability, and witfi
extraordinary diligence and assiduity. It is said by Hac-
ket, that when oi^r prelate first entered upon the office, he
had such a load of business, that he was forced to sit by
candle-light in the court of chancery two hours before
day, and to remain there till between eight and nine;
after which he repaired to the House of Peers, where
he sat as speaker till twelve or one every day. After a
short repast at home, he then returned to hear the causes
in chancery, which he could not dispatch in the morning ;
or if he attended the council at Whitehall, he came back
towards evening, and followed his chancery business till
eight at night, and later. After this when he came borne,
he perused what papers his secretary brought to him ; and
when that was done, though late in the night, he prepared
himself for the business which was to be transacted next
morning in the House of Lords. And it is said that when
he had been one year lord keeper, he had finally concluded
more causes than had been decided in the preceding seven
years. In the Star-chamber he behaved with more lenity
and moderation in general, than was usual among the
judges of that court He would excuse himself from in-
flicting any severe corporal punishment upon an offender,
by saying that " councils had forbidden bishops from med-
dling with blood in a judicial form." In pecuniary fines he
was also very lenient, and very ready to remit his own share
WILLIAMS. 121
in fines. Of this we have the following instance. Sir
Francis Inglefield had asserted before witnesses, that " he
could prove this holy bishop judge had been bribed by some
that had fared well in their causes." The lord keeper im-
mediately called upon sir Francis to prove his assertion,
which he being unable to do, was fined some thousand
pounds to be paid to the king and the injured party. Soon
after bishop Williams sent for sir Francis, and told him he
would give him a demonstration that he was above a bribe ;
and u for my part," said he, " I forgive you every penny of
my fine, and will beg of his majesty to do the same." This
piece of generosity made sir Francis acknowledge bis fault,
and he wjis afterwards received into some degree of friend-
ship and acquaintance with the lord keeper. Weldon's
charge of corruption against Williams seems to be equally
ill founded, nothing of the kind having ever been proved.
Bishop Williams was very desirous of keeping upon good
terms with the favourite Buckingham, but it appears, not-
withstanding, that he withstood him when be had just rea-
son for it. He sometimes also gave Buckingham good ad*
vice, which being delivered with freedom, could not be verji
acceptable to. the haughty favourite. His resolution in
opposing Buckingham's designs, when he saw weighty rea-
sons for it, was so remarkable that the king used to say,
that " he was a stout man, and durst do more than himself.1*
James sometimes really appeared afraid of openly express-
ing his dislike at such of Buckingham's actions as he really
disapproved ; and we are told that his majesty thanked
God, that be had put Williams into the place of lord
keeper ; " for," said he, <c he that will not wrest justice
for Buckingham's sake, whom be loves, will never be
corrupted with money which he never loved." And be-
cause the lord keeper bad lived for the space of three years
upon the bare revenues of his office, and was not richer by
the sale of one cursitor's place in all that time, his majesty
gave him a bountiful new-year's gift, thinking that it was
but reasonable to encourage, by his liberality, a man who
never sought after wealth by the sordid means of extortion
or bribery.
The lord keeper made use of his influence with the king,
in behalf of several noblemen who were under the royal
displeasure and in confinement. He prevailed with his
majesty to set at liberty the earl of Northumberland, who
had been, fifteen years a prisoner in the Tower. ' He pfo-,
122 WILLIAMS.
cured also the enlargement of tbe earls of Oxford and
Arundel, both of whom had been a considerable time under
confinement. He employed likewise his good offices with
the king, in behalf of many others of inferior rank, parti-
cularly some clergymen who offended by their pulpit free-
doms. One instance we shall extract from his principal
biographer, as a proof of his address, and knowledge of
king James's peculiar temper. A Mr. Knight, a young di-
vine at Oxford, had advanced in a sermon somewhat which
was said to be derogatory to the king's prerogative. For
this he was a long time imprisoned, and a charge was about
to be drawn up against him, tp impeach him for treason-
able doctrine. One Dr. White, a clergyman far advanced
in years, was likewise in danger of a prosecution of the
same kind. Bishop Williams was very desirous of bring*
ing both these gentlemen off, and hit on the following con-
trivance. Some instructions had been appointed to be
drawn up by his care apd direction, for the performance.of
useful and orderly preaching ; which being under his hand
to dispatch, he now besought bis majesty that this proviso
plight pass among the rest, that none of the clergy should
be permitted to preach before the age of thirty years, nor
ftfter three-score. " On my soul," said the king, " tbe
devil, or some fit of madness is in the motion ; for I have
many great wits, and of clear distillation, that have preached
before me at Royston and Newmarket to my great liking,
that are under thirty. And my prelates and chaplains,
that are far stricken in years, are the best masters of that
faculty that Europe affords." " I agree to all this," an-
swered the lord keeper, " and since your majesty will
pillow both young and old to go up into the pulpit, it is
but justice that you shew indulgence to the young ones if
they run into errors before their wits be settled (fpr every
apprentice is allowed to mar some work before \ie be cun-
ning in the mystery of his trade), and pity to the old ones,
if some of them fall into dotage when their brains grow,
dry. Will your majesty conceive displeasure, and not lay
it down; if the former set your teeth on edge sometimes,
before they are mellow-wise ; and if the doctrine of the
latter be touched with a blemish, when they begin to be
rotten, and. to drop from the tree •'" " This is not unfit for
consideration," said the king, " but what do you drive at ?"
" Shr," replied Williams, " first to beg your pardon for
mine own boldness ; then to remember you that Knight is
WILLIAMS. 123
r
a beardless boy, from whom exactness of judgment could
not be expected. And that White is a decrepit, spent
man, who had not a fee-simple, but a lease of reason, and
it is expired. Both these that have been foolish in their
several extremes of years, I prostrate at the feet of your
princely clemency." In consequence of this application,
king James readily granted a pardon to both of them-
Bishop Williams continued in favour during this reign,
and attended king James at his death, and preached his
funeral-sermon, on 2 Chrbn. ix. 29, 30, 3 1 , which was after-
wards printed. That king had promised to confer upon
him the archbishopric of York at the next vacancy ; but
bis lordship's conduct in many points not being agreeable
to the duke of Buckingham, he was removed by Charles
I. from bis post of lord keeper, Oct. 1626. He was ordered
also not to appear in parliament, but refused to comply
with that order, and taking his seat in the House of Peers,
promoted the petition of right.
For four years after Williams was consecrated bishop
of Lincoln, the multiplicity of his affairs prevented his
visitipg his clergy, yet bis government, it is said, was such
as to give content to his whole diocese. He managed the
affairs of it with the greatest exactness by faithful substi-
tutes,, who gave him a just account of all matters, so that
he knew the name and character of every one of his clergy,
and took care to encourage the deserving. When now,
however, he came to Bugden, he found it necessary to
repair his house, and the chapel, which be did at a great
expence, and in a magnificent manner. The concourse
that reported to this chapel was very great ; and his table
was generally well filled with gentry, so that the historian
Sanderson, who is no friend to Williams, said, that " he
lived at Bugden more episcopally than any of his prede-
cessors." All the great persons and nobility who bad oc-
casion to travel that way, used to call upon his lordship,
from whom they and their retinue were sure of a hearty
welcome, and the best entertainment. All the neighbour-
ing clergy also, and many of the yeomanry, were free to
come to his table, and, indeed, he seldom sat down with-
out some of the clergy. He was also extremely charitable
to the poor, and used to say, that " he would spend hi*
own while he had it; for he thought his adversaries would
not permit him long to enjoy it/' Had he not lived i n thi? hos-
pitable manner, yet his conversation, and agreeable man^
124 WILLIAMS.
ner of accommodating himself to his guests, were so gene-
rally pleasing, that he was not likely to be much alone.
Many members of both universities, the most distinguished
for their wit and learning, made him frequent visits ; so
lhat very often, taking the company and entertainment
together, Bugden was said to resemble one of the univer-
sities in commencement time. It was his custom, at his
table, to have a chapter in the English Bible read daily at
dinner by one of the choristers, and another at supper in
Latin by one of his gentlemen.
This hospitable and splendid manner of living gave of-
fence to the court, as he was publicly known to be out of
favour there. It was said, that such a mode of living was
very improper for a man in disgrace. To which he re-
plied, that " he knew not what he had done, to live the
worse for their sakes, who did not love him." His family
was the nursery of several noblemen's sons; particularly
those of the marquis of Hertford, and of the earls of Pem-
broke, Salisbury, and Leicester. These, together with
many other young gentlemen, had tutors assigned them,
of whom our prelate took an account, how their pupils
improved in virtue and learning. To those who were
about to be removed to the universities, before he parted
with them, he read himself a brief system of logic, which
lectures .even his own servants might attend who were ca-
pable of such instruction : and he took particular care
that they should be thoroughly grounded in the principles
of religion. He was exceedingly liberal to poor scholars
in both universities; and his disbursements this way are'
said every year to have amounted to a thousand, ami
sometimes to twelve hundred pounds. He was also very
generous to learned foreigners. When Dr. Peter du Mou-
lin fled to England, to avoid persecution in France, bishop
Williams hearing of him, sent his chaplain, Dr. Hacket, to
pay him a visit, and supposing that he might be in want,
bade him carry him some money, not naming any sum.
Hacket said, that he supposed he could not give him less
than twenty pounds. " I did demur upon the sum," said
the bishop, " to try you. Is twenty pounds a fit gift for
me to give to a man of bis parts and deserts ? Take an
hundred, and present it from me, and tell him, he shall
not want, and I will come shortly and visit him myself ;"
which he afterwards did, and supplied Du Moulin's wants
while he was in England. He was also a liberal patron of
WILLIAMS, 125
kis countryman John Owpn, the epigrammatist, whom
Me maintained for several years, and when he died be
buried him, and erected a monument for him at his own
expence.
In the mean time, the duke of Buckingham was not con-
tent; with having removed our prelate from all power at
court, but for a long time laboured to injure him, although
some time before his death he appears to have been rather
reconciled to him. . With Laud, however, Williams found
all reconciliation impossible, for which it is not easy to
assign any cause, unless that their political principles were
in some respects incompatible, and that Laud was some-
what jealous of the ascendancy which Williams might ac-
quire, if again . restored at court. In consequence of this
animosity, besides being deprived of the title of privy-
counsellor, Williams was perpetually harassed with law-
suits and prosecutions; and though nothing criminal could
be proved against him, yet he was, by these means, put
to great trouble and expence. Amongst other prosecu-
tions, one arose from the following circumstances, as re-
lated by bis biographer Hacket, " In the conference
which the bishop had with his majesty, when he was ad-
mitted to kiss bis hand, after the passing of the petition of
Right, the king conjuring his lordship to tell him freely,
how he might best ingratiate himself with the people, his
lordship replied, ' that the Puritans were many and strong
sticklers ; and if his majesty would give but private orders
to his ministers to connive a little at their party, and shew
them some indulgence, it might perhaps mollify them a lit-
tle, and make them more pliant ; though he did not promise
that they would be trusty long to any government.' And
the king answered, that 'he had thought upon this before,
and would do so.' About two months after this, the bishop
at his court at Leicester acted according to this counsel
resolved upon by his majesty ; and witbal told sir John
Lamb and Dr. Sibthorp his reason for it, ' that it was not
only his own, but the Royal pleasure.' Now Lamb was
one, who had been formerly infinitely obliged to the bishop :
but, however, a breach happening between them, he and
Sibthorp carried the bishop's words to bishop Laud, and
he to the king, who was then at Bisham. Hereupon it
was resolved, that upon the deposition of these two, a bill
should be drawn up against the bishop for revealing the
king's secrets, being a sworn counsellor. That hi form a-
126 WILLIAMS.
tion, together with some others, being transmitted' to the
council-table, was ordered for the present to be sealed
top, and committed to the custody of Mr. Trumbal, one
of the clerks of the council. Nevertheless the bishop made
a shift to procure a copy of them. And so the business
rested for some years. However, the bishop was still
more and more declining in favour, by reason of a settled
misunderstanding between him and bishop Laud, who looked
upon Williams as a man who gave encouragement to the
Puritans, and was cool with respect to our church-disci-
pline ; while, on the other hand, Williams took Laud to
be a great favourer of the papists. Laud's interest at court
was n6w so great, that in affairs of state, as well as of the
church, he governed almost without controui; so that a
multitude of lesser troubles surrounded bishop Williams,
and several persons attacked him with a view to ingratiate
themselves at court. Abundance of frivolous accusation
and little vexatious law-suits were brought against him
daily ; and it was the height of his adversaries policy to
empty his purse, and clip his wings, by all the means they
could invent, that so at last he might He wholly at their
mercy, and not be able to shift for himself. Notwithstand-
ing all which, what with his innocency, and what with hk
courage springing from it, he bore up against them all,
and never shewed any grudge or malice against them. But
his lordship, perceiving himself to be thus perpetually
harassed, asked the lord Cottington, whether he could tell
him, what he should do to procure his peace, and such
other ordinary favours as other bishops bad from his ma-
jesty. To which the lord Cottington answered, that the
splendor in which he lived, and the great resort of com-
pany which came to him, gave offence ; and that the king
must needs take it ill, that one under the height of his
displeasure should live at so magnificent a rate. In the
next place, his majesty would be better satisfied, if he
would resign the deanery of Westminster, because he did
not care that he should be so near a neighbour at White-
hall. As for the first of these reasons, his natural temper
would not suffer him to comply with it, and to moderate
his expences in house-keeping ; and he was not so short-
sighted as to part with his deanery upon such precarious
terms; "for," said he, " what health can come from such
a remedy ? Am I like to be beholden to them for a settled
tranquillity, who practise upon the ruin of my estate, and
WILLIAMS. 127
the tbrall of my honour ? If I forfeit one preferment for fear,
will it not encourage them to tear cpe in piecemeal here-
after? It is "not my case alone, but every man's ; and jf
the law cannot maintain my right, it can maintain no
man's." So, in spite of all their contrivances to out him,
he kept the deanery till the king received it from him at
Oxford in 1644, But they did all they could, since he
was resolved to hold it, to make him as uneasy as possible
in it. In this uneasy situation he continued several years;
and now, it was sufficiently known to all people how much
he was out of favour ; so that it was looked upon as a piece
of merit to assist in his ruin. And this perhaps might be
some incitement to what sir Robert Osborn, high sheriff of
Huntingdonshire, acted against him in the levying of the
ship-money. The bishop, for his part, was very cautious
to carry himself without offence in this matter ; but sir Ro-
bert, laying a very unequal levy upon the hundred wherein
Bugden was, the bishop wrote courteously to him to rectify
it, and that he and his neighbours would be ready to see
it collected. Upon this sir Robert, catching at the op-
portunity, posts up to the court, and makes an heavy com-
plaint against the bishop, that he not only refused the
payment of ship-money himself, but likewise animated the
hundred to do so too. And yet for all that, when the bi-
shop afterwards cleared himself before the lords of the
council, and they were satisfied that he had behaved him-
self with duty and prudence, sir Robert was not repre-
hended, nor had the bishop any satisfaction given him, nor
was the levy regulated. After this, wa& revived the long
and troublesome trial against the bishop in the Star-cham-
ber, which commenced in the fourth year of king Charles I.
upon some informations brought against him by Lamb and
Stbthorp. Here he made so noble a defence of himself,
that the attorney- general, Noy, grew weary of the cause,
and slackened bis prosecution ; but that great lawyer dying,
and the information being managed by Kilvert a solicitor,
the bishop, when the business came to a final determina-
tion, was fined 10,000/. to the king, and to suffer impri-
sonment during bis majesty's pleasure, and withal to be
suspended by the high commission court from itll his dig-
nities, offices, and functions. In his imprisonment in the
Tower, hearing that his majesty would not abate any thing
of his fine, he desired that it might be taken up by 1000/.
yearly, as his estate would bear it, till the whole should
128 W.ILLIAM S.
*
be paid ; but he could not have so small a favour granted.
Upon which Kilvert, the bishop's avowed enemy, was or-
dered to go to Bugden and Lincoln, and there to seize
upon all he could, and bring it immediately into the ex-
chequer. Kilvert, being glad of this office, made sure of all
that could be found ; goods of all sorts, plate, books, and
such like, to the value of 10,000/. of which he never gave
account but of 800/. The timber he felled; killed the
deer in the park; sold an organ, which cost 120/. for 10/.;
pictures, which cost 400/. for 5/.; made away with what
books he pleased, and continued revelling for three sum*
mers in Bugden-house. For four cellars of wine, cyder,
ale, and beer, with wood, hay, corn, and the like, stored
up for a year or two, he gave no account at all. And thus
a large personal estate was squandered away, and not the
least part of the king's fine paid all this while; whereas if
it had been managed to the best advantage, it would have
been sufficient to discharge the whole. It were endless to
repeat all the contrivances against his lordship during his
confinement; the bills which were drawn up, and the suits
commenced against him, as it were on purpose to impo-
verish him, and to plunge him into debt, that so, if he
procured his enlargement from this prison, he might not
be long out of another. However, he bore all these af-
flictions with the utmost patience ; and if a stranger had
seen his lordship in the Tower, he would never have taken
him for a prisoner, but rather for the lord and master of
the place. For here he lived with his usual cheerfulness
and hospitality, and wanted only a larger allowance to
give his guests an heartier welcome ; for now he was con-
fined to bare 500/. a year, a great part of which was con-
sumed in the very fees of the Tower. He diverted himself,
when alone, sometimes with writing Latin poems ; at other
times with the histories of such as were noted for their
sufferings in former ages. And for the three years and a
half that he was confined, he was the same, man as else-
where, excepting that his frequent law-suits broke his
studies often ; and it could not be seen that he was the least
altered in his health or the pleasantness of his temper.19
At length when the parliament met in November 1640,
bishop Williams petitioned the king for bis enlargement,
and to have his writ of summons to parliament, which his
majesty thought proper to refuse ; but about a fortnight
after, the House of Lords sent the gentleman -usher of the
WILLIAMS. 1*9
black rod to demand him of the lieutenant of the Tower, in
consequence of which he took his seat among his brethren.
Some being set on to try how he stood affected to his pro-
secutors, he answered, that " if they had no worse foes than
him, they might fear no harm ; and that he saluted them
with the charity of a bishop ;" and when Kilvert came to
him to crave pardon and indemnity for all the wrongs he
had done, "I assure you pardon," said the bishop, " for
what you have done before ; but this is a new fault, that
you take me to be of so base a spirit, as to defile myself
with treading upon so mean a creature. Live still by
petty-fogging and impeaching, and think that I have for-
gotten you." And now the king, understanding with what
courage and temper he had behaved himself under his mis-
fortunes, was pleased to be reconciled to him ; and com-
manded all orders, filed or kept in any court or registry
upon the former informations against him, to be taken off,
razed, and cancelled, that nothing might stand upon record
to his disadvantage.
When the earl of Strafford came to be impeached in par-
liament, Williams defended the rights of the bishops, in a
very significant speech, to vote in case of blood, as Hacket
relates; but lord Clarendon relates just the contrary. He
says, that this bishop, without communicating with any of
his brethren, very frankly declared his opinion, that " they
ought not to be present ; and offered, not only in his own
name, but for the rest of the bishops, to withdraw always
when that business was entered upon :" an,d so, adds the
noble historian, betrayed a fundamental right of the whole
order, to the great prejudice of the king, and to the taking
away the life of that person, who could not otherwise have
suffered. Shortly after, when the king declared, that he
neither would, nor could in conscience, give his royal assent
to that act of attainder ; and when the tumultuous citizens
came about the court with noise and clamour for justice ;
the lord Say desired the king to confer with his bishops for
the satisfaction of bis conscience, and with bishop Williams
in particular, who told him, says lord Clarendon, that "he
must consider, that as he bad a private capacity and a pub-
lic, so he had a public conscience as well as a private : that
though his private conscience, as a man, would not permit
him to do an act contrary to his own understanding, judg-
ment, and conscience, yet his public conscience as a king,
which obliged him to do all things for the good of his
Vol. XXXII. K
lsb WILLIAMS.
people, and to preserve his kingdom in peace for
and his posterity, would not only permit him to do that,
but even oblige and require him J that he saw in what com*
motion the people were; that his own life, and that of the
queen and the royal issue, might probably be sacrificed to
that fury : and it would be very strange, if his conscience
should prefer the right of one single private person, how
innocent soever, before all those other lives and the pre-
servation of the kingdom. This," continues lord Clareb-
don, " was the argumentation of that unhappy casuist,
who truly, it may be, did believe himself :w yet he reveals
another anecdote, which shews, at least if true, that bishop
Williams could have nb favourable intentions towards the
unfortunate earl of Strafford. It had once been mentioned
to the bishop, when he was out at court, whether by autho-
rity or no was not known, says the historian, that " hi*
peace should be made there, if he would resign his bi-
shopric and deanery of Westminster, and take a good
bishopric in Ireland:99 which he positively refused, and
said, " he had much to do to defend himself against the
archbishop (Laud) here ; but, if he was in Ireland, there
was a man (meaning the earl of Strafford) who would cot
off his head within one month."
In 1641, he was advanced to the archbishopric of York;
and the same year opposed, in a long speech, the bill for
depriving the bishops of their seats in the House of Lords ;
which had this effect, that it laid the' bill asleep for five
months. Then the mob flocked aooiit the parliament-house,
crying out, "No bishops, no bishops;" and insulted the
prelates, as they passed to the House. WiHiamfc was one
of the bishops who was most Yudely treated by the rabble ;
his person was assaulted, and his robes torn from his back.
Upon this, he returned to his house, the deanery of West-
minster ; and sending for all the bishops then in the town,
Who were in number twelve* proposed, as absolutely ne-
cessary, that " they might unanimously and presently pre-
pare a protestation, to send to the House, against the force
that was used upon them ; and against all the acts which
were or shotild be done during the time that they should
by force be kept from doing their duties in the House ;"
and immediately, having pen and ink ready, himself pre-
pared a protestation, which Was sent. But the politic
bishop Williams is here represented to have been trans-
ported by passion into impolitic measures ; for, no sooner
WILLIAMS. Ui
was this protestation communicated to the House than the
governing Lords manifested a great satisfaction in it ; some
of them saying, that " there was digitus Dei to bring that
to pass, which they could not otherwise have compassed :"
and, without ever declaring any judgment or opinion of
their own upon it, sent to desire a conference with the
Commons, who presently joined with tbem in accusing the
protesters of high treason, and sending them all to the
Tower ; where they continued till the bill for putting them
out of the House was passed, which was not till many
months after. Lord Clarendon says, there was only one
gentleman in the House of Commons that spoke in the
behalf of these prelates ; Who said, among other things,
that "he did not believe they were guilty of high treason,
but that they were stark-mad, and therefore desired they
might be sent to Bedlam."
In June 1642, the king being at York, our archbishop
was enthroned in person in his own cathedral, but, soon
after the king had left York, which was in July following,
was obliged to leave it too ; the younger Hotham, who
was coming thither with bis forces, having sworn solemnly
to seize and kill him, for some opprobrious words spoken of
him concerning his usage of the king at Hull. He retired
to his estate at Aber Conway, and fortified Conway«castle
for the king ; which so pleased his majesty, that by a letter,
Oxford, Aug. the 1st, 1643, the king " heartily desired him
to go on with that work, assuring him, that, whatever
moneys he should lay out upon the fortification of the said
castle should be repayed unto him before the custody
thereof should be put into any other hand than his 'own, -or
such as he should command." By virtue of a warrant, Jan.
2, 1643-4, the archbishop deputes his nephew William
Hooks, esq. to have the custody of this castle ; and, some
time after, being sent for, set out to attend the king at Ox-
ford, whom he is said to have, cautioned particularly against
Cromwell, who, " though then of but mean rank and use
in the army, yet would' be sure %o rise higher* I knew
him," says he, " at Buckden ; but never knew his religion.
He was a common spokesman for sectaries, and maintained
their parts with stubbornness. He never discoursed as if
he were pleased with your majesty and your great officers ;
indeed he loves none that are more than his equals. Your
majesty did him but justice in repulsing a petition put up
by him against sir Thomas Steward, of the Isle of Ely ; but
k 2
132 WILLIAMS.
he takes them all for his enemies that would not let him
undo his best friend ; and, above all that live, I think he
is injuriarum pcrsequentissimus, as Port i us Latro said of
Catiline. He talks openly, that it is fit some should act
more vigorously against your forces, and bring your per-
son into the power of the parliament. He cannot give a
good word of his general the earl of Essex ; because, he
says, the earl is but half an enemy to your majesty, and
hath done you more favour than harm. His fortunes are
broken, that it is impossible for him to subsist, much lest
to be what he aspires to, but by your majesty's bounty, or
by the ruin of us all, and a common confusion; as one
said, ' Lentulus salva republica salvus esse non potuit.* la
short, every beast hath some evil properties; but Crom-
well hath the properties of all evil beasts. My bumble
motion is, either that you would win him to you by pro-
mises of fair treatment, or catch him by some stratagem,
and cut him off."
After some stay at Oxford, he returned to his own coun-
try, having received a fresh charge from his majesty to
take care of all North Wales, but especially of Conway-
castle, in which the people of the country had obtained
leave of the archbishop to lay up all their valuables. A
year after this, sir John Owen, a colonel for the king,
marching that way after a defeat, obtained of prince Ru-
pert to be substituted under his hand commander of the
castle; and so surprising it by force entered it, notwith-
standing it was before given to the bishop under the king's
own signet, to possess it quietly, till the charges he had
been at should be refunded him, which as yet had never
been offered. The archbishop's remonstrances at court
meeting with no success, he being joined by the country-
people, whose properties were detained in the castle, and
assisted by one colonel Mitton, who was a zealous man for
the parliament, forced open the gates, and entered it. The
archbishop did not join the colonel with any intention to
prejudice his majesty's service, but agreed to put him into
the castle, on condition that every proprietary should pos-
sess his own, which the colonel saw performed.
After the king was beheaded; the archbishop spent his
days in sorrow, study, and devotion ; and is said to have
risen constantly every night out of his bed at midnight, and
to have prayed for a quarter of an hour on his bare knees,
without any thing but his shirt and waistcoat on. He lived
WILLIAMS. 133
not much above a year after, dying the 25th of March 1 650 r
he was buried in Llandegay church, where a monument
was erected to him by bis nephew and heir, sir Griffith Wil-
liams. Besides several sermons, he published a book
against archbishop Laud's innovations in church-matters
and religious ceremonies, with this title, " The Holy Table,
Name, and Thing, more antiently, properly, and literally,
used under the New Testament, than that of Altar. Writ-
ten long ago by a minister in Lincolnshire, in answer to D.
Coel, a judicious divine of queen Marie's dayes. Printed
for the diocese of Lincoln, 1637;" in quarto. Lord Cla-
rendon, though far from being favourable to this prelate,
yet represents this "book so full of good learning, and
that learning so closely and solidly applied, though it
abounded with too many light expressions, that it gained
him reputation enough to be able to do hurt ; and shewed,
that in his retirement he had spent his time with his books
very profitably. He used .all the wit and all the malice he
could, to awaken the people to a jealousy of these agita-
tions, and innovations in the exercise of religion ; not with-
out insinuations that it aimed at greater alterations, for
which be knew the people would quickly find a name : and
he was ambitious to have it believed, that the archbishop
Laud was his greatest enemy, for his having constantly op*
posed his rising to any government in the church, as a man
whose hot and hasty spirit he had long known.9'
In the mean time, there have not been wanting those,,
who, without disguising his infirmities, have set archbishop
Williams in a better light than we find him represented by
the earl of Clarendon, who seems by no means to have
loved the. man. Arthur Wilson tells us, that, "though be
was composed of many grains of good learning, yet the
height of his spirit, I will not say pride, made him odious
even to those that raised him ; haply because they could
not attain to those ends by him, that they required of him*
But t\eing of a comely and stately presence, and that ani-
mated with a great mind, made him appear very proud to
the vulgar eye; but that very temper raised him to aim at
great things, which he affected : tor the old ruinous body
of the abbey-church at Westminster was new clothed by
him ; the fair and ' beautiful library of St. John's in Cam-
bridge was a pile of his erection ; and a very complete,
chapel built by him at Lincoln-college in Oxford, merely
for the name of Lincoln, having no interest in nor relation.
134 WILLIAMS.
• *
to that university. But that which heightened him most
in the opinion of those that knew him best, was his boun<-
tiful mind to men in want ; being a great patron to sup-
port, where there was merit that wanted supply: but these
great actions, were not publicly visible : those were more
apparent that were looked on with envious, rather than with
emulous eyes.9*
Hacket likewise, after observing that he was a man of
great hospitality, charity, and generosity, especially to gen-»
tlemen of narrow fortunes, and poor scholars in both uni-
versities, informs us that his disbursements this way every
year amounted to 10901. or sometimes 12002. Hacket had
reason to know his private character ; for he was iris chap-
lain, and although he may be supposed partial to so emi-
nent a benefactor, the character he gives of archbishop
Williams is, in general, not only consistent with itself, but
with some contemporary authorities. He appears, amidst
all his secular concerns, to have entertained a strong sense
of the importance of religion. When a divine once came
to him for institution to a living, Williams expressed him-
self thus ; " I have passed through many places of honour
and trust, both in church and state, more than any of my
order in England these seventy years before. But were I
but assured, that by my preaching I had converted but one
soul unto God, I should take therein more spiritual joy
and comfort, than in all the honours and offices which have
been bestowed upon me."
Archbishop Williams undertook a Latin Commeutary on
the Bible; and the notes collected from various authors by
his own hand were formerly in the custody of Mr.Goukuid,
keeper of Westminster-college library. His lordship know-
ing well, that to perform such a task completely was above
the abilities of any one man, intended to leave it to be
finished by twelve or more of the best scholars in the na-
tion, whom he had in his eye, and was willing to give them
twenty thousand -pounds rather than it should be left un-
finished. He likewise resolved* as notieed by Dr. Pegge,
in his valuable life of that prelate, to publish the works of
his predecessor bishop Gtosthead, which were scattered in
several libraries at home and abroad, and he digested what
he could procure of them, and wrote arguments upon va-
rious parts of them. 1
i Hacket'i Life of Abp. Williams, fol.—PhiUips's and Stearins'! Lira, $?•.
—Clarendon's Hist— Lloyd's Worthies,— Biog. Brit.
WILLIAMS. 135
WILLIAMS (John)» an able divine, and bishop of Chi-
chester, was bprn in Northamptonshire in 1634, In 16$ I
he entered a commoner of Magdalen-hall, Oxford, where
in 16$$ be completed his degree* in arts* anjd was ordained.
Id 1673 he was collated to the rectory of St. Mildred in the
Poultry, London, and in 1683 to the prebend of Reymere
in the cathedral of St. Paul. After the revolution he be*
eatne chaplain to king William and queen Mary, and was
preferred to a prebend of Canterbury, and in December
)6?6 advanced to the bishppric of Chichester, in which, he
died in 1 709. He was a considerable writer io the con-
troversies with the papists and dissenters, and preached the
lectures founded by Mr. Boyle, his sermons on that occa->
sioo being published in 1695, 4to, under the title of " The
characters of Divine Revelation*" He wrote also a " Hi*>
tqry of the. Gunpowder Treaaon," and many controversial
pamphlets numerated by Wood. He lived in great inti-
macy with Tillptson, who says qf him, "J!^ Williams is
really one of the best men I know, and most unwearied in
doing good, and his preaching is very weighty and jnpUr
cious*" When Firmin, the Socinian, published his " Con-
siderations on the explications of the doctrine of the Tri-
nity,1' Pr. Williams wrote the same yeqx (.1694) a "Vindi-
cation of archbishop TilloMon's Four Sermons (concerning
the divinity and incarnation of pur blessed Saviour) and of
the bishop of Worcester's sermon pn the .mysteries pf the
Christian faith." In this, which was not published till 1695,
after Tillotson's death, Dr. Williams observes that it was not
without the archbishop's direction and encouragement, that
he entered upon it, and that had he lived to have perused
the whole, as he did a part of, it a few dajs before hip
kit hours, it had cpme with greater advantage into tb#
world, &c. '
WILLIAMS (Rooea), a braye offiqer in the reign of
queen Elizabeth, was the son of Thomas Williams, Qf Pep-
rose in Monmouthshire, and educated at Oxfp^d, probably
in Brasenose college. After leaving the university, he be-
came a volunteer in the army, and served under the duke
of Alva. In 1581, he was in the EoglUh army commanded
by general Norris inFriestand, where Camden says the
enemy's troops were defeated by sir Roger Williams at
Northorn, who. probably therefore wis knighted for bis gak
» Alb. to. vol IL~*Mi'f life 9t TiUWon
136 WILLIAMS.
lant exploits before this time, although Wood says that ho-
nour was not conferred upon him until 1586. In this last* -
mentioned year he appears again in the army commanded
by the earl of Leicester in Flanders. When the prince of
Parma laid siege to Venlo in Guelderland, Williams, with
one Skenk, a Frieslahder, undertook to pierce through the
enemy's camp at midnight, and enter the town. They
penetrated without much difficulty, as far as the prince of
Parma's tent, but were then repulsed. The attempt, how-
ever, gained them great reputation in the army. In 1591,
Williams was sent to assist in the defence of Dieppe, and
remained there beyond August 24, 1593. What other ex-
ploits he performed, we know not, but it is probable that
he continued in the service of his country during the war
in the Low Countries, of which war be wrote a valuable
history. He died in London in 1595, and was buried in
St. Paul's, attended to his grave by the earl of Essex, and
other officers of distinction. *' He might," says Camden,
" have been compared with the most famous captains of
our age, could he have tempered the heat of his warlike
spirit with more wariness and prudent discretion.9' Wood
calls him a colonel, but it does not clearly appear what
rank he attained in the army. From his writings, which
are highly extolled by Camden, he appears to have been
a man of Strong natural parts, and sound judgment. His
principal writing is entitled "The Actions of the Low
Countries," Lond. 1618, 4to, which has lately been re-
printed in Mr. Scott's new edition of the Somers's Tracts.
He wrote also " A brief discourse of War, with bis opinion
concerning some part of military discipline," ibid. J 590,
4to, in which he defends the military art of his country
against that of former days. He mentions in his " Actions .
of the Low Countries," a " Discourse of the Discipline of
the Spaniards;" and in Rymer's Fcedera is his "Advice
from France, Nov. 20, 1590." Some of his MSS. and
Letters are in the Cotton Library in the British Museum.1
WILLIAMSON (Sir Joseph), an eminent statesman
and benefaetor to Queen's college, Oxford, was son of
Joseph Williamson, vicar of Bridekirk in Cumberland fjrom
1625 to 1634. At his first setting out in life be was em-
ployed as a clerk or secretary by Richard Tolson, esq. ;
representative in parliament for Cockermouth ; and, when
1 Atb. Ox. yoI, I. new «dit— -Camdtn'i Queen Elixabetb.— Rettituta, toI. I.
WILLIAMSON. 1S7
m
at London with bis master, begged to be recommended to
Dr. Busby, that be might, be admitted into Westminster-
school, where be made such improvement that the master
recommended bim to the learned Dr. Langbaine, provost
of Queen's college, Oxford, who came to the election at
Westminster. He admitted him on the foundation, under
the tuition of Dr. Thomas Smith (for whom sir Joseph after-
wards procured the bishopric of Carlisle), and provided for
him at his own expence ; and when he had taken his ba-
chelor's degree, February 2, 1653, sent him to France as
tutor to a person of quality. On his return to college he
was elected fellow, and, as it is said, took deacon's orders.
In 1657 he was created A. M. by diploma. Soon after the
restoration he was recommended to sir Edward Nicholas,
and bis successor Henry earl of Arlington, principal secret
tary of state, who appointed him clerk or keeper of the
paper-office at Whitehall (of which he appointed Mr. Smith
deputy), and employed him in translating and writing me-
morials in French; and Jifne 24, 1677, he was sworn one
of the clerks of the council in ordinary, and knighted. He
was undersecretary of state in 1665 ; about which time he
procured for himself the writing of the Oxford Gazettes
then newly set up, and employed Charles Perrot, fellow of
Oriel college, who had a good command of his pen, to do
that office under bim till 1671. In 1678, 1679, 1698,
1700, he represented the borough of Thetford in parlia-
ment. In 1685, being then recorder of Thdtford, he was
again elected, but Heveningham the mayor returned him-
self, and on a petition it appeared that the right of elec-
tion was in the select body of the corporation before the
charter ; and in 1690 he lost his election by a double re-
turn. Wood says he was a recruiter for Thetford to sit in
that parliament which began at Westminster May 8, 1661.
At the short treaty of Cologne, sir Joseph was one of the
British plenipotentiaries, with the earl of Sunderland and
sir Leolin Jenkins, and at his return was created LL.D.
June 27, 1674, sworn principal secretary of state Septem-
ber 1 1,' on the promotion of the earl of Arlington to the
chamberlainship of the household, and a privy counsellor.
On November 18, 1678, he was committed to the Tower
by the House of Commons, on a charge of granting com-
missions and warrants to popish recusants ; but be was the
same day released by the king, notwithstanding an address
from the House. He resigned his place of secretary Fe-
158 W I LL I A M S O N.
Jwuary 9, 1678, and was succeeded by the earl of Sunder-
food; who, if we believe Rapin, gave him 6000/. and 500
guineas to induce him to resign. In December that year
he married Catheriqe Obrien, baroness Clifton, widow of
Henry lord Obrien, who died in August. She was sister
and sole heiress to Charles duke of Richmond, and brought
sir Joseph, large possessions in Kent and elsewhere, besides
the hereditary stewardship of Greenwich. Some ascribe
the loss of the secretary's place to this match, through the
means of lord Danby, who intended this lady for his son.
She died November 1702. Sir Joseph was president of
the Royal Society in 1678. Under 1674, Wood says of
him that " he had been a great benefactor to his college,
and may be greater hereafter if he think fit." Upon some
slight $hewn by the college, he had made a will by which
he had given but little to it, haying disposed of his intended
benefaction to erect and endow a college at Dublin, to, be
called Queen's college, the provosts to be chosen from its
namesake in Oxford. But soon after his arrival in Holland
1696, with Mr. Smith, his godson and secretary, (after*
wards, 1730, provost of Queen's college, Oxford,) being
seized with a. violent fit of the gout, he sent for his secre-
tary, who bad before reconciled him to the place of his
education, and calling him to his bedside, directed htm to
take his will out of a drawer in the bureau, and insert a be-
nefaction of 6000/. When this was done and ready to be
executed, before the paper had been read to him, "in
comes sir Joseph's lady." The secretary, well knowing
he had no mind she should be acquainted with it, endea-
voured to conceal it ; and on her asking what he had got
there, be answered, " nothing but news, Madam ;" mean-
ing, such as she was not to know : and by this seasonable
and ready turn prevented her further inquiries.
Dr. Lancaster, the provost, applied this benefaction to-
wards erecting the south-side of the college. Sir Joseph
also gave to the library a valuable collection of MSS. espe-
cially heraldic, and memoirs of bis foreign negociations.
His benefactions to this college in his life-time* and at his
death, in plate, books, buildings, and money, amounted to
8000/. He left by will 500/. to the grandchildren of his
patron Dr. Langbaine ; and to the parish of Bride-kirk gilt
bibles and prayer-books, communion-plate, &c. He was
also a benefactor to the cloth-workers9 company, of which
he had been master, and left 5000/, to found a mathemati*
WILLIS. rs*
cal schdol for freemen's sons at Rochester, which city he
had represented in 1689, 1695, 1698, and 1700. He died
in 1701, and was buried in Westminster-abbey. *
WILLIS (Thomas), an illustrious English physician,
was of a reputable family, and born at Great Bedwin, in
Wiltshire, Jan. 27, 1621, in a house that was often visited
by his grandson Browne Willis, and of which there is an
engraving in the Gentleman's Magazine for 1798. He was
instructed in grammar and classical literature by Mr. Ed-
ward Sylvester, a noted schoolmaster in the parish of All-.
Saints, Oxford ; and, in 1636, became a member of Christ
church. He applied himself vigorously to his studies, and
took the degrees in arts ; that of bachelor in 1639, that of
master in 1642. About this time, Oxford being turned
into a garrison for the king, he with other scholars bore
arms for his majesty, and devoted bis leisure hours to the
study of physic ; in which faculty he took a bachelor's de-
gree in 1646, when Oxford was surrendered to the parlia-
ment. He pursued the business of his profession, and
kept Abingdon market He settled in an bouse over against
Merton college, and appropriated a room in it for divine
servipe^ where Mr. John Fell, afterwards dean of Christ
church, whose sister he had married, Mr. John Dolben,
afterwards archbishop of York, and sometimes Mr. Richard
Allestree, afterwards provost of Eton college, exercised
the liturgy and sacraments according to the church of Eng<-
land, and allowed to others the privilege of resorting thi-
ther. This measure of theirs is commemorated by a paint*,
ing in the hall of Christ church, Oxford.
In 1660, he was made Sedleian professor of natural phi-
losophy ; and the same year took the degree of doctor of
physic. Being sent for to most of the people of quality
about Oxford, and even at great distances, he visited the
lady Key t in Warwickshire ; and is supposed to have been
going to her in April 1664, when he discovered, and made
experiments upon, the famous medicinal spring at Alstrop,
near Brackley. Willis and Lower first recommended these
waters, which were afterwards decried by Radcliffe. The
reason which Granger heard assigned for his decrying them
was, because the people, of the village insisted upon his
keeping a bastard ehild, which was laid to him by an infa-
1 ,&{artia's Hist of Tbetford,"-Bsrik'» Cumberland and Westmoreland— and
Hitchinson'f Cumberland.
140 WILLIS.
mous woman of that place. Upon this the doctor declared
" that he would put a toad into their well/' and accordingly
cried down the waters, which soon Ipst their reputation.
Dr. Willis was one of the first members of the Royal So-
ciety, and soon made his name as illustrious by his writing*
as it was already by his practice. In 1666, after the fire
of London, he removed to Westminster, upon an invitation
from archbishop Sheldon, and took a house in St Martin's-
lane. As he rose early in the morning, that be might be
present at divine service, which he constantly frequented
before he visited his patients, he procured prayers to be
read out of the accustomed times while he lived, and at his
death settled a stipend of 20/. per annum to continue them*
He was a liberal benefactor to the poor wherever he came,
having from his early practice allotted part of his profits
to charitable uses. He wa& a fellow of the college of phy-
sicians, and refused the honour of knighthood. He was
regular and exact in his hours ; and his tfeble was the re-
sort of most of the great men in London. After his settle-
ment there, his only son Thomas falling into a consump-
tion, he sent him to Montpellier in France for the reco-
very of his health, which proved successful. His wife also
labouring under the same disorder, he offered to leave the
town; but she, not suffering him to neglect the means of
providing for bis family, died in 1670. He died, at his
house in St. Martin's, Nov. 11, 1675, and was buried near
her in Westminster-abbey. His son Thomas, above men-
tioned, was born at Oxford in Jan. 16S7-8, educated some
time in Westminster-school, became a student a Christ
church, and died in 1699. He was buried in Bletchley
church, near Fenny-Stratford, the manors of which places,
his father had purchased of the duke of Buckingham, and
which descended to his eldest son Browne Willis of Whad-
don-hall, esq. eminent for his knowledge in antiquities, and
of whom some memoirs will be given. Wood tells us, that •
"though Dr. Willis was a plain man, a man of no carriage,
little discourse, complaisance, or society, yet for his deep
insight, happy researches in natural and experimental phi-
losophy, anatomy, and chemistry, for his wonderful suc-
cess and repute in his practice, the natural smoothness,
pure elegancy, delightful unaffected neatness of Latin
style, none scarce hath equalled, much less outdone, him,
how great soever. When at any time he is mentioned by
authors, as he is very often, it is done in words expressing
WILLIS. 141
their highfest esteem of his great worth and excellency, and
plated still as first in rank among physicians. And, fur-
ther, also, he hath laid a lasting foundation of a body of
physic, chiefly on hypotheses of his own framing.*9 These
hypotheses, by far too numerous and fanciful for his repu-
tation, are contained in the following works : 1. " Diatriba
duae Medico-philosophicae de fermentatione, altera de fe-
bribus," Hague, 1659, 8vo, London, 1660, 1665, &c. 12 mo.
This was attacked by Edm. de Meara, a doctor of physic
of Bristol, and fellow of the college of physicians, but de-
fended by Dr. Richard Lower in his " Diatribes Thomas
Willisii Med. Doct. & Profess. Oxon de Febribus Vindi-
catio contra Edm. de Meara,'9 London, 1665, Svo. 2. "Dis*»
sertatio Epistolica de Urinis :" printed with the Diatribst
above mentioned. 3. " Cerebri Anatome,'9 London, 1664,
Svo, Amsterdam, 1667, in 12mo. 4. " De rattone motus
musculorum,99 printed with the " Cerebri Anatome.99 5.
" Pathologic Cerebri & nervosi generis specimina, in quo
agitur de morbis convulsivis & de scorbiito," Oxford, 1667,
4to, London, 1668, Amsterdam, 1669, &c. 12 mo. 6. " Af-
fectionum quae dicuntur hysteric© & hypochondriacs Pa-
thologia spasmodica, vindicata contra responsionem Epis-
tolarem Nath. Highmore, M. D." London, 1670, 4to, Ley-
den, 1671, 12mo, &c. 7. " Exercitationes Medico-physic©
duae, 1. De sanguinis accensione. 2. " De motu muscu-
lari,'9 printed with the preceding book. 8. " De anirall
Brutorum, quae hominis vitals ac sensativa est, exercita*
tiones duae, &c." London, 1672, 4to and 8vo, Amsterdam,
1674, 1 2 mo. All these books, except ** Affection urn qu«
dicuntur hysterics, &c." and that " de animft Brutorum/9
were translated into English by S. Pordage, esq. and printed
at London, 168 1, folio. 9. " Pharmaceutice Rationalis :
sire Diatriba de medicamentorum operationibus in humano
corpora.9' In two parts, Oxford, 1674 and* 1675, 12 mo,
4to. Published by Dr. John Fell. In the postscript to the
second part is the following imprimatur put to it by Dr.
Ralph Bathurst, the author dying the day before.
." Imprimatur.
. " Amicissimo Authori post tarn immortale opus nihil
mortale facturo, tanquam lumina morienti claudens, extre-
mum hoc officium praestat
" Rad. Bathurst, Oxon.
Oxon, Nov. 12, 1675. Vice-Cancell."
This book was translated into English by an anonymous
143 WILLIS.
i
person* and printed at London, in 1679, in folio} but this
translation being very faulty, it was corrected by S. Pon-
dage, esq. above mentioned, and published in his version
of Or. Willis's Works in 1681. In 1685 there came out
at London, in 8vo, " The London practice of Physic ; or
the whole practical parf of physic contained in the works
of Dr. Willis, faithfully made English, and printed together
for the public good.9' This contains, I. the first and se-
cond parts of our author's Pharmaceutice rationalis ; II. his
treatise of convulsive diseases ; HI. that of the scurvy ; IV.
that of the diseases of the brain and genus nervosum ; V.
that of fevers. 1 0. A plain and easy method of preserving
those that are well from the infection of the plague, or any
contagious distemper, in city, camp, country, fleet, &c. and
for curing such as are infeoted with it. Written in 1666,
but not published till the end of 1690.. AH our author's
Latin works were printed in two volumes in 4to at Geneva
in 1676, and Amsterdam in 1682 in 4to.
Although Dr. Willis's works abound with the reveries of
the chemical philosophy, and consequently have fallen into
considerable neglect, there are many useful and curious
things to be found in them. His " Cerebri Anatome" is
the best of his works ; but even here, although his anato-
mical descriptions be good,, yet bis physiological opinions
must be acknowledged to be altogether extravagant and
absurd. For example, he lodges common sense in the
corpus striatum of the brain, imagination in the corpus pal-
loiium, and memory in the cineritious matter which en-
compasses the medullary. Yet, after all, what is this to
the more monstroqp absurdities of .that modern piece of
quackery, called Craniology ? Vieussen6, who in his "Neu-
rographia," animadverted on Willis, is notwithstanding
under great obligations to him, and Willis's enumeration of
the nerves is still adhered to by anatomists.
A Dutch physician, named Schelhammer, in a book
" De Auditu," printed at Ley den in 1684, took occasion to
animadvert upon a passage in Dr. Willis's bode " de Anjma
Brutorum," printed in 1672 ; and in such a manner as re-
flected not only upon his skill, but also upon his integrity.
But Dr. Derham observes, " that this is a severe and unjust
censure of our truly-famous countryman, a man of known
probity, who hath manifested himself to have been as cu-
rious and sagacious an anatomist, as great a philosopher, and
as learned and skilful a physician as any of his censurers ;
WILLIS. 14*
and bis reputation for veracity and integrity was no lest
than iny of theirs too." It remains to be noticed, that bis
" Cerebri Anatome" had an elegant copy of verses written
in it by Mr. Phillip Fell, and the drawings for .the plates
were done by bis friend Dr. Christopher Wren, the cele*
brated architect.1
WILLIS (Browne), an eminent antiquary, was born
Sept. 14, ] 682, at Blandford in Dorset He was grandson
to the preceding Dr. Willis, and eldest son of Thomas
Willis, esq. of Bletchley, in Bucks. His mother was daugh-
ter of- Robert Browne, esq. of Frampton, in Dorsetshire.
He had the first part of bis education under Mr. Abraham
Freestone at Bechampton, whence he was sent to West-
minster-school, and during his frequent walks in the adjoin**
ing abbey imbibed that taste for architectural, particularly
Ecclesiastical, antiquities, which constituted the pleasure
and employment of his future life. At the age of seven-
teen he was admitted a gentleman commoner of Christ
church, Oxford, under the tuition of the famous geogra-
pher Edward Wells, D. D. and when he left Oxford, be
lived for three years with the famous Dr. Will. Wotton. In
1702, he proved a considerable benefactor to Fenrjy- Strat-
ford, by reviving the market of that town. In 1705, he
waa chosen for the town of Buckingham ; and, during the
short time he was in parliament, was a constant attendant!
and generally upon committees. In 1707, he married Ca.
tbarine, daughter of Daniel Elliot, esq. of a very ancient
family in Cornwall, with whom he had a fortune of 8000&
and by whom he had a numerous issue. She died Oct. 3*
1724. This lady had some literary pretensions. She wrote
a book entitled " The established Church of England the
true oatholick church, free from innovations, or diminish*
ing the apostolic doctrines, the sacraments, and doctrines
whereof are herein set forth," Lond. 1718, 8vo. What
the merit of this work may be, we know not ; but her hus-
band often made a joke of it, and in his own copy wrote
the following note, "All the connexion in this book is
owing to the book-binder.9' Between 1704 and 1707 he
contributed very largely towards the repairing and beau*
tifyiftg Bletchley church, of which he was patron, and to
which be gave a set of communion-plate. In 1 7 17-18, the*
1 ,Ati*. Ojc. toI, II.— Bieg. Brit. — Letter* by Eminent Persons, 1813, 3 vols.
Sro.— Thomson's Hist, of the RoyeJ Society.— Granger,— Birch's Lives.— Dew*
Baffttelfi Life.
144 WILLIS.
Society of Antiquaries being revived, Mr. Willis became &.
member of it, and Aug. 23, 1720, the degree of M. A. and
1749, that of LL. D. were conferred oh him, by diploma,
by the university of Oxford. From some of his letters in
1723, it would appear that at that time he had some em-
ployment in the Tower, or perhaps had only gained access
to the archives preserved there. At his solicitation, and in
concurrence with his copsin Dr. Martin Benson, afterwards
bishop of Gloucester, rector of that parish, a subscription
was raised for building the beautiful chapel of St. Martin's
at Fenny- Stratford, which was begun in 1724, and conse-
crated May 27, 1730. A dreadful fire having destroyed
above fifty houses and the church at Stoney-Stratford,
May 19, 1746, Mr. Willis, besides collecting money among
his friends for the benefit of the unhappy sufferers, re-
paired, at his own expence, the tower of the church, and
afterwards gave a lottery ticket towards the re-building of
that church, which came up a prize. In 1741 he pre-
sented the university of Oxford with his fine cabinet of
English coins, at that time looked upon as the most com-
plete, collection in England, and which he had been up-
wards of forty years in collecting; but the university
thinking it too much for him, who \ had then a large
family, to give the gold ones, purchased them for 150
guineas, which were paid to Mr. Willis for 167 English
gold coins, at the rate of four guineas per ounce weight ;
and even in this way the gold coins were a considerable
benefaction. This cabinet Mr. Willis annually visited 1 9
Oct. being St. Frideswide's day, and never failed making
some addition to it. He also gave some MSS. to the Bodleian
library, together witt* a picture of his grandfather, 'Dr.
Thomas Willis. In 1752 he laid out 200/. towards the re-
pairs of the fine tower at Buckingham church, which fell
d6wn some years. ago, and he was, upon every occasion, a
great friend to that town. In 1756, Bow Brickhill church,
which had been disused near 150 years, was restored and
repaired by his generosity. In 1757 he erected, in Christ
church, Oxford, a handsome monument for Dr. lies, canon
of that cathedral, to whose education his grandfather had
contributed ; and in 1759, he prevailed upon University
college to. do the same in Bechampton church, for their
great benefactor sir Simon Benet, bart. above 100 years
after his death : he also, at his own expence, placed a mar-
ble stone over him, on account of his benefactions at Be-
WILLIS. US
champton, Buckingham, Stohey-Stratford, &c. Dr. WillU
died at Whaddon-hall, Feb. 5, 1760, in the seventy-eighth
year of bis age, and was buried in Fenny- Stratford chape),
where is an inscription written bj himself.
The rev. Mr. Gibbefd, curate of Wbaddon, gives bin
the following character. " He was strictly religious, with-
out any mixture of superstition or enthusiasm. The honour
of God was his prime view in every action of his life. He
was a constant frequenter of the church, and never absented
himself from the<holy communion ; and, as to the reverence
he had for places more immediately set apart for religious
duties, it is needless to mention what his many public
works, in building, repairing, and beautifying churches,
are standing evidences of. In the time of health be called
his family together every evening, and, besides his private
devotions in the morning, he always retired into his closet
in the afternoon at about four or five o'clock. In his in-
tercourse with men he was in every respect, as far as I
could judge, very upright. He was a good landlord, and
scarce ever raised his rents ; and that bis servants likewise
had no reason to complain of their master is evident from
the long time they geuerally lived with him. He had many
valuable and good friends, whose kindness he always ac-
knowledged. And though perhaps be might have some
disputes with a few people, the reason of which it would
be disagreeable to enter into, yet it is with great satisfac?
tion that I can affirm that he was perfectly reconciled with
every one. He was, with regard to himself, peculiarly so-
ber and temperate ; and be has often told me, that he de-
nied himself many things, that he might bestow them bet-
ter. Indeed, he appeared to me to have no greater regard
to money than as it furnished bim with an opportunity of
doing good. He supplied yearly three charity schoojs at
Whaddon, Bletchley, and Fenny Stratford; and besides
what he constantly gave at Christmas, he was never back-
ward in relieving his poor neighbours with both wine and
money when they were sick, or in any kind of distress. He
was a faithful friend where he professed it, and always ready
to contribute any thing to their advantage."
Many other curious particulars of Dr. Willis's character
and singularities may be seen in Mr, Nichols's " Literary
Anecdotes,9' vols. VI. and VIII. and many extracts from
kis correspondence. It is now necessary to give some
account of bis labours as an antiquary, which, m general,
Vol. XXXII. L
146 WILL IS.
do the highest credit to his talents, industry, and perse*
verance, yet perhaps, could not have been carried on with*
out a considerable proportion of that enthusiasm which
sometimes embarrassed his fortune, and created many
oddities of character and behaviour.
•■ In 1710, when Mr. Gale published his "History and
Antiquities of Winchester Cathedral," Willis supplied him
with the history of Hyde abbey, and lists of the abbots of
Newminster and Hyde, published in that work. In 1715
and 1716 he published his " Notitia Parliamentaria, or an
History of the Counties, cities and boroughs in England
and Wales," 2 vols. Svo, to which he added a third in 1730*
The first volume was reprinted in 1730, with additions;
and a single sheet, as far as relates to the borough of Wind-*
sor, was printed in 1733, folio. In 1717, he published,
without his name, a kind of abridgment of " The Whole
Duty of Man," " for the benefit of the poorer sort." In
the same year, " A Survey of the Cathedral Church of St.
David's, and the edifices belonging to it, as they stood in
the year 1715," 8vo% In 1718 and 1719, "An History of
the mitred Parliamentary abbies and conventual cathedral
Churches," 2 vols. 8vo. In 1719, 20, and 21, "Surveys of
the Cathedral churches of Llandaff, St. Asaph, and Bangor,
&c." 8vo. This led to his greatest and most important work,
" Survey of the Cathedrals of England, with the Parochiale
Anglicanum, illustrated with draughts of the cathedrals," 3
vols. 4 to, 1727, 1730, and 1733r These volumes contain
the history of the cathedrals of York, Durham, Carlisle,
Chester, Man, Lichfield, Hereford, Worcester, Gloucester,
Bristol, Lincoln, Ely, Oxford, and Peterborough. These
were first published by Mr. Francis Gosling, afterwards the
banker and founder of the well* known and highly respected
firm of that name, who, on giving up the bookselling busi*
ness, sold the remaining copies to Osborne, who prefixed a
title with the date 1742, and advertised them as containing
a history of all the cathedrals. Against this roguish trick,
Willis thought proper to guard the public in an advertise-
ment in the public papers. It is to be regretted, however,
that he did not extend his labours to all the cathedrals, for
he had during his long life visited every cathedral in Eng-
land and Wales except Carlisle, which journies he used
to call fits pilgrimages.
In 1733 he published " A Table of the Gold Coins of
the Kiogs* of England," in one sheet folio, which is in the
W 1 L t 1 & M
ft Vetusta Monumental Before 1752 he printed *n " Ad-
dress to the patrons of ecclesiastical livings/9 4to, with the
View to prevent pluralities and non-residence; and in 1754,
an improved edition of " Ectoii's Thesaurus reruni ecde-
. siasticarum," 4to. His last publication was the " History
and antiquities of the Town, hundred, and deanry, of
Buckingham," London, 1755, 4to« His large collections
for the whole county are now among his MSS. in the Bod-
leian library ; and his MS. of the " History of the Hundreds
of Newport -and Cotslow," transcribed and methodized by
Mr. Cole, a& now among Mr. Cole's valuable MSS. in the
British Museum. Willis was not much a gainer by any of
bis publications, the sale being generally very tardy, of
which he inakes many-complaints in his private correspond*
ence. They have all, however, siitce, borne a price more
suited to their merits.1
WILLUGHBY (Francis), a celebrated natural historian,
was the only son of sir Francis Willughby, knt, and was
born, in 1635. His natural advantages, with regard to
birth, talents, and fortune, he applied in such a man-
ner as to procure to himself honours that might mora
truly be called his own. He was addicted to study from
his childhood, and was so great an oeconomist of his time,
that be was thought by his friends to have impaired his
health by his incessant application. By this means, how-
ever, he attained gr$at skill in all branches of learning,
and got deep insight into the most abstruse kinds of know*
ledge, and the most subtle parts of the mathematics. But
observing, in the busy and inquisitive age in which he
lived, that the history of animals was in a great measure
neglected by his countrymen, he applied himself particu-
larly to that province, and used all diligence to cultivate
and illustrate it. To prosecute this purpose more effec-
tually, he carefully read over what had been written by
others on that subject; tod in 1660, we find him residing
at Oxford for the benefit of the public library. But hef
had been originally a member of Trinity college, Cam-
bridge, where he took his degree of A* B. in 1656, and of
A.M. in 1659. After leaving Oxford, he travelled, in
search of natural knowledge, several times over his: native
country ; and afterwards to France, Spain, Italy, Germany,
* Life pr«6xed to his Cathedrals.— Nicb6ls'S Bfo^yer—HutchiD^ Hilt1 of
Honetshire.— Cole'B M9 Athea* in Brit. Mus.—Bieg. Brit.
L2
14* WILLUGHBt
and the Low-Countries, attended by bis ingenious friend*
Mr. John Ray, and others ; in all which places, says Wood,
he was so inquisitive and successful, thai -not many sorts '
of animals, described by others, escaped bis diligence.
He died July 3, 1672, aged only thirty-seven ; to the great
loss of the republic of letters, and much lamented by those
of the Royal Society, of which he was an eminent member,
and ornament He left to Mr. Ray the charge of educat-
ing his two infant sons, with an annuity of 70/, which con-:
stituted ever after the chief part Of Ray's income. A most*
exemplary character of him may be seen in Ray's preface
to his " Ornithology ;" whence all the particulars are con-
cisely and elegantly summed up in a Latin epitaph, on a
monument erected to his memory in the church of Middle-
ton in Warwickshire, where be is buried with his ancestors**
His works are, " Ornithologiae libri trea: in quibus avea
omnes hactenus cognitae in metbodum natnris suis convenU
entem redecue accurate describuotut, descriptiones iconic
bus elegantissimis, & vivarum avium simillimis, srri incisis
illustrantur," 1676, folio. . This was prepared for the press,
corrected and digested into order, by Ray, afterwards by
him also translated into English, with an appendix, and
figures engraved at the expense of Mr* Willughby, but of
inferior merit, 1673, folio. 2. " Historic PiscHim libri
quatuor, &c" 1686, folio. This was revised and digested
by Ray, with engravings of many species, not then known
in Eogland. 3. " Letter containing some considerable,
observations about that kind of wasps called Icbheumones,
&c. dated Aug. 24, 1671." See the Phil. Trans. N* 76.
4. " Letter about the hatching a kind of bee lodged in old
willows, dated July 10, 1671." Trans. N9 47. 5. " Let-
ters of Francis Willughby, esq." added to " Philosophical
Letters tyftveen the late learned Mr. Ray. and several of
s correitioodents,!' 8vo. By William Derham.1
WILLYMQT IJViluam), a teacher of considerable
*ote, and a publisher of some school-books of reputation*
was the second son of Thomas Willymot of Royston, in the
county of Cambridge, by his wife Rachel, daughter of Dr.
Pindar of Springfield in Esses. He was bom, we are aot
told in wbet year, at Royston, and admitted scholar of
XingVcollege, Cambridge, OcU 20, 1699. He proceeded
i Birch's Hiit of too Boyal Soeirfy, *ol HI. p. 66.^-Ath. O*. toI. U.— BtOf s
Brit— Dtrtoa't Life of IUjr.*-IUj'f Jifo, yoL XXVI. of thy work.
WILL YOM O T. 1«*
A. B; in 1697, A. M. in 1700, ttld LL. D.in 1707. After.
taking his muttr-s degree be went as usher la Eton, where
Cole says " be continued not long, but kept a school at
Isieworth in Middlesex :" tJarwood, however, says . that
he was many years' an assistant at Eton, and was the editor
of several books for the use of boys educated there. Har-
wood adds that he was tutor, when at King's college, to
lord Henry and lord Richard Lumley, sons of the earl of
Scarborough; and Cole informs us that he was private
tutor in the family of John Bromley, of Horsebeath-hali
in Cambridgeshire, esq. father of Henry lord Montfort;
? but here endeavouring to pay his addresses to one of the
ladies of the family, he was dismissed." When he left
Eton is uncertain, but- in 1721 we find him master of a
private school at Isle worth, and at that time one of the
candidates for the mastership of St Paul's school, in which
he did not succeed. By an advertisement then published
by .htm, it would appear that his failure arose in .some
measure from bis being suspected of an attachment to the
pretender, which he denies. Some time before this he bad
studied civil law, and entered himself of Doctors1 -com-
mons, but changing his mind, returned to college^ took
holy orders, and was made vice-provost of King's college
in the above year, 1721, at which time he was senior fellow.
In 1735 he was presented to the rectory of Milton near
Cambridge, after a contest with the college, which refused
bim, in consideration of his not having remained and per-
formed the requisite college exercises. Even with this,
Cole says, be was soon dissatisfied, and would have re-
turned to his fellowship had it beeir possible* He died
June 7, 1737, of an apoplexy, tit tbe Swan Inn, at Bed-
ford, on his return from Bath. Among bis publications for
tbe use of schools are* 1. " The peculiar use and signifi-
cation of certain words in tbe Latin tongue," &c. 1705, 8vo«
2. " Particles exemplified in English sentences, &c." 1703,
Svo. 3. " Larger examples, fitted to Lilly's grammar-
rules.*1 4. " Smaller examples, &c" 5. « Three of Te-
rence's comedies, viz. the Andria, the Adelphi, and the
Hecyra, with English notes,'* 1706, 8vo. 0. "Select
dtories from Ovid's Metamorphoses, with English notes."
7; " Phsedrus Fabfe*, with English notes," &c. &c. He
published also " A collection of Devotions for the Altar,**
2 vols. 8vo; " Lord Bacon's Essays,'* 2 vols. 8vo. and "A.
new translation of Thomas a Kempis/' 1722. Tbe com-
*»
150 WILLYMO T,
mon copies are dedicated " To the Sufferers by the South
Sea." It was originally dedicated to Dr. Godolphin, pro*--
vost of Eton, but as he had abused the fellows -of the col-
lege in it, upon recollection he called it in, "so," saytf
Cole, " this curious dedication is rarely to be met with.'91
WILMOT (John, Earl of Rochester), a noted wit in
the reign of Charles II. was the son of -Henry earl of Ro-
chester ; who bore a great part in the civil wars, and was
the chief manager of the king's • preservation , after the
battle of Worcester. He was born April 10, 1647, at*
Ditchley iu Oxfordshire ; and was educated in grammar
and classical literature in the free-school at Burford. Here-
be acquired the Latin to such perfection, that' to his dying
day he retained a quick relish for the beauties of that
tongue ; and afterwards became exactly versed in the an*
thors of the Augustan age, which he often read* In 1659,
when only twelve years old, he was admitted a nobleman
of Wadham college in Oxford, under the inspection: of Dr,
Blandford, afterwards bishop of Oxford and Worcester;
and, in 1661, was with some other persons of rank created*
master of arts in convocation : at which time, Wood says,
he and none else was admitted very affectionately into the
fraternity by a kiss from the chancellor of the university,
Clarendon, who then sate in the supreme chair. After-
wards he travelled into France and Italy; and at his re-
turn frequented the court, which, Wood ohserves, and
there is reason to believe very truly, not only corrupted
his morals, but made him a perfect Hobbist in principle*
In the mean time, he became one of the gentlemen of the
bed-chamber to the king, and comptroller of Woodstock-*
park. In 1665 be went to sea with the earl of Sandwich,
who was sent to lie in wait for the Dutch East-India fleet ;
and was in the Revenge, commanded by sir Thomas Tid-
diman, when the attack was made en the port of Bergen iu
Norway, the Dutch ships having got into that port It
was a desperate attempt; and, during the whole action,
the earl of Rochester shewed the greatest resolution, and
gained a high reputation for courage. He supported his
character for bravery in a second expedition, but after-
wards lost it in an adventure with lord Mulgrave ; of whifch
that noble author, in the memoirs of himself, gives a par-.
; * Cole's MS Collections in Brit. tyus. to!. XVI.— Harwood'* Alumni Etonen-
W.^Nicbofc's Bowver.
W I L M O T. i *|
tlcular account It exhibits some traits of the earl of Ro-
chester's character; and therefore, though somewhat te-
dious and wordy, may not be unacceptable* " I was in-
formed," says lord Mul grave, " that the earl of Rochester '
bad said something of me, which, according to his custom; '
was very malicious. I therefore sent colonel Aston, a very
mettled friend of mine, to call him to account for it. He-
denied the words, and indeed I was soon convinced be had
never said them ; but the mere report, though I found it-
to be false, obliged me, as I then foolishly thought, to go
on with the quarrel; and the next day was appointed for
us to fight on horseback, a way in England a little unusual,
but it was his part to chuse. Accordingly, 1 and my se~'
cond lay the night before at Knightsbridge privately, to
avoid the being secured at London upon any suspicion ;
atid in the morning we met the lord Rochester at the place
appointed, who, instead of James Porter, whom he assured
Aston be would make bis second, brought an errant life-
guard man, whom hobody knew. To this Mr. Aston took
exception, upon the account of his being no suitable adver-
sary; especially considering how extremely well he was
mounted, whereas we had only a couple of pads : upon'
which, we all agreed to fight on foot. But, as my lord
Rochester and I were ridio-g into the next field in order to
it, he told me, that he had at first chosen to fight on
horseback, because he was so much indisposed, that he
found himself unfit at all any way, much less on foot. I
was extremely surprised, because at that time nq man had
a better reputation for courage ; and I took the liberty of
representing what a ridiculous story it would make, if we
returned without righting, and therefore advised him for
both our sakes, especially for his own, to consider better
of it, since I must be obliged in my own defence to lay
the fault on him, by telling the truth of the matter. H«
answer was, that be submitted to it; and hoped, that I
would not desire the advantage of having to do with afly
man in so weak a condition. I replied, that by such -art
argument he bad sufficiently tied my hands, upon condi-
tion that I might call our seconds to be witnessed of the
whole business ; which he consented to, and so we {totted.
When we returned to London, we found it full of fetp$
quarrel, upon our being absent so long; and therefore
Mr. Aston thought himself obliged to write down every
word and circumstance of this whole matter, in ordef ' tq
U* ' WILMOT.'
spread €Vf ry where the true reason of oar returning with-
out having fought. This, heing never in the least contra-
dicted or resented by the lord Rochester, entirely ruined
Ms reputation, as to courage, of which I was really sorry to
bp fhe occasion, though nobody bad still a greater as to
wit; which supported him pretty well in the world, not-
withstanding some more accidents of the same fcind, that
never fail to succeed one another, when once people know
a man's weakness." .
t The earl of. Rochester, before he travelled, had given
somewhat into that disorderly and intemperate way of liv-
ing which the joy of the whole nation, upon the restoring
of Charles II. had introduced ; yet during his travels he
had at least acquired a habit of sobriety. But, falling into
court-company,. where excesses were continually practised*
he soon became intemperate, and the natural beat of his
fancy, being mflamed wjth wine, made him so extrava-
gantly pleasant, that many, to be more diverted by that
humour, strove to engage him deeper and deeper in intoxi-
cation. This at length so entirely subdued bitp, that, as
he told Dr. Burnet, he was for five years together conti-
nually drunk : not all the while under the visible effect of
liquor, but so inflamed in his blood, tbat he- was never
cool enough to be master of himself. There were two
principles in the natural temper of this lively. and witty
earl, which carried him to great excesses ; a violent love
of pleaspre, and a disposition to extravagant mirth. The
one involved him in the lowest sensuality, the other led
him to many odd adventures and frolics. Once be had
disguised himself so, that bis nearest friends could not
have known him, and set up in Tower-street for an Italian
mountebank, where he practised physic for some weeks.
He disguised himself often as a porter, or as a beggar ;
sometimes to follow some mean anpours, which, for the
variety of them, be affected. At other times, merely for
diversion, he would go about in odd shapes ; in which he
acted his part so naturally, that even those who were in
the secret, and saw him in. these shapes, could perceive
nothing by which be might be discovered.. He is said to
have been a generous and good-natured man in cold blood,
jpt would go. far in his heats after any thing that might
turn to a j£st or matter of diversion ; and be laid out him-
self very * freely in libels and satires, in which be bad so
peculiar a talent of mixing wit with malice, that all his
WILMOT, 15$
compositions were easily known. Andrew Marvell, who
was himself a great wit, used to say, " that Rochester was
the only rami in England who bad the true vein of satire*"
4< Thus/' says Dr. Johnson, " in a course of drunken
gaiety, and gross sensuality, with intervals of study per-
haps yet more criminal, with an avowed contempt of ail
decency and order, a total disregard to every moral, and a
resolute denial of every religions obligation, he lived worth-
less and useless, and blazed out his youth and bis health in
lavish voluptuousness ; till, at the age of one and thirty,
he had exhausted the fund of life, and reduced himself to
a. state of weakness and decay/9
In Oct. 1679, when he was slowly recovering from a
severe disease, he was visited by Dr. Burnet, upon an inti-
mation that sufch a visit would be very agreeable to him*
With great freedom he laid open to that divine all bis
thoughts both of religion and morality, -and gave him a full
view of his past lite: on which the doctor visited him
often, till he went from London in April following, and-
once or twice after. They canvassed at various times the
principles of morality, natural and revealed religion, and
Christianity in particular 5 the result of all which, as it is
faithfully related by Dr. Burnet in a book, which, Dr.
Johnson observes, " the critic ought to read for its ele-
gance, the philosopher for its arguments, and the saint for
its piety," was, that this noble earl, though he had lived
the life of an atheist. and a libertine, yet died the death of
a sincere penitent* The philosophers of the present age
will naturally suppose, that his contrition and conviction
were purely the effects of weakness and low spirits, which
scarcely suffer a man to continue ii\ his senses, and cer-
tainly not to be master of himself; but Dr. Burnet affirms
him to have been " under no such decay as either darkened
or weakened bis understanding, nor troubled with the spleen
or vapours, or under the power of melancholy." The
reader may judge for himself from the following, which
is part of a letter from the earl to Dr. Burnet, dated
"Woodstock-park, June 25, 1680, Oxfordshire." There
is nothing left out, but some personal compliments to the
doctor.
" My most honoured Dr. Burnet,
" My spirits and body decay so equally together, that I
shall write you a letter as weak as I am in person. I begiu
154 W I L M O T.
to ralne churchmen above all men in the world, &c. If God •
be yet pleased to spare me longer in this world, I hope in
your conversation to be exalted to that degree of piety,
that the world may see how much I abhor what I so long
loved, and how much I glory in repentance, and in God's
service. Bestow your prayers upon me, that God would
spare me, if.it be his good will, to shew a true repentance
and amendment of life for the time to come ; or else, if the
Lord pleaseth to put an end to my worldly being now, that
he would mercifully accept of my death-bed repentance,
and perform that promise he hath been pleased to make,
that 'at what time soever a sinner doth repeat, he would
receive him.* Put up these prayers, most dear doctor, to
Almighty God, for your most obedient and languishing
servant, Rochester:."
He died July 26 follbwing, without any convulsion, or
so much as a groan : for, though he had not completed his
thirty-third year, he was worn so entirely down, that all the
powers of nature were exhausted. He left behind him a'
son* named Charles, who died Nov. 12, 1681 ; and three
daughters*. The male line ceasing, Charles II. conferred
the title of Rochester on Laurence viscount Killingworth, a
younger son of Edward earl of Clarendon.
The earl of Rochester was a graceful and well-shaped
person, tall, and well-made, if not a little too slender, as
Burnet observes. " He was," says Johnson, "eminent for the
vigour of his colloquial wit, and remarkable for many wild
pranks and sallies of extravagance. The glare of his ge-
neral character diffused itself upon his writings ; the com-
positions of a man whose name was heard so often were
certain of attention, and from many readers certain of ap-
plause. This blaze of reputation is not yet quite extin-
guished ; and his poetry still retains some splendour be-
yond that which genius has bestowed.
'« Wood and Burnet give us reason to believe, that much
was imputed to him which he did not write. It is not
known by whom the original collection was made, or by
what authority its genuineness was ascertained. The first
edition was published in the year of his death, with an air
of concealment, professing in the title-page to be printed
* In the London Chronicle for Feb. at her lodgings in Fleet-street, Mrs.
11,1*765, and probably in other pa- Arabella Wiltnot, a natural daughter
pers, we read the following : " Yester- of the famous eail of Rochester, the ce-
day morning died, in an advanced age, lebrated wit in the reign of Charles II."
W I L.M-Q TV 155
at Antwerp. Of some of the pieces, however, there is tip'
doubt. The Imitation of Horace's Satire, tbe Verses to
lord Mulgrave, tbe Satire against Man, tbe verses upon*
Nothing, and perhaps some others, are I believe genuine,
and perhaps most of those which ihe collection exhibits.
As he cannot be supposed to have found leisure for any
course of continued study, his pieces are commonly short,
such as one fit of resolution would produce. His songs'
have no particular character ; they tell, like other songs,
in smooth and easy language, of scorn and kindness, dis*-'
mission and desertion, absence, and inconstancy, with the'
common-places of artificial courtship. They are commonly
smooth and easy ; but have little nature, and little senti*-*
ment. His imitation of Horace on Lucilius is not inele-
gant or unhappy. In the reign of Charles the Second be-
gan tbat adaptation, which has since been very frequent,
of ancient poetry to present times ; and perhaps few will-
be found where the parallelism is better preserved than in
this* The versification is indeed sometimes careless, but
it is sometimes vigorous and weighty. The strongest effort
of his muse is his poem upon " Nothing/' Another of his
most vigorous pieces is his lampoon upon sir Carr Scrope.
Of the satire against Man, Rochester can only claim what
remains when all Bbileau's part is taken away. In all his
works there is sprightliness and vigour, and everywhere-
may be found tokens of a mind which study might have'
carried to excellence. What more can be expected from'
a life spent in ostentatious contempt of regularity, and'
ended before tbe abilities of many other men began to be
displayed ?" The late George Steevens; esq. made the se-
lection of Rochester's poems which appears in Dr. John--
son's edition ;- but Mr. Malone observes, that the same task*
had been performed in the early part of the last century
by Jacob Tonson. *
WILMOT (John Eardley), a learned lawyer, and lord-
chief justice of the court of common pleas, was the second'
son of Robert Wilmot, of Osmaston in the county of Derby,
esq. and of Ursula, one of the daughters and coheiresses of
sir Samuel Marow, of Berks well, in tbe county of Warwick,,
bart. He was born Aug. 16, 1709, at Derby, where his fa-
ther then lived, and after having acquired the rudiments
■ Life by Bp. Burnet.— Johnson's Poets.— Biog. B lit— Park's Edition of tbe.
Royal and Noble Authors.
156 WILMOT.
of learning at the free-school in that town, tinder the Ber,
Mr. Bfockwell, was placed with the Rev. Mr. Hunter at
Lichfield, where he waa contemporary with Johnson ami
Garrick. At an after period of his life it could be remarked
that there were then five judges upon the bench who had
been educated at Lichfield school, viz. Willes, Parker;
Noel, Lloyd, and Wilmot. In Jan. 1724, he was removed
to Westminster-school, and placed under Dr. Freind ; and
here, and at Trinity-ball, Cambridge, where he resided
until Jan. 1728, be laid the' foundation of many friendships*
which he preserved through a long life. At the university
he contracted a passion for study and retirement that never
quitted him, and be was often beard to say, that at tbisv
time the height of his ambition was to become a fellow of;
Trinity- ball, and to pass bis life in that learned society*
His natural disposition had induced him to give the pre-
ference to the church; but his father* wbo was a man of
sagacity as well as of reading, had destined him to the
study of the law, which be accordingly prosecuted with
much diligence at the Inner Temple, and was called to the
bar in June 1731. In 174:5 be married Sarah, daughter of
Thomas Rivett, of Derby, esq.
We. are not acquainted with any interesting particulars?
of Mr. Wilmot's life between the period of his leaving the
university and his being in a considerable degree of prac-
tice as a barrister : but as duty and • filial piety, more than
inclination, bad induced him to embrace the profession of
the law, his pursuit after its emoluments was not eager,
though his study of it was unremitted. He was regular in
bis attendance on the terms, but his practice was at this
time chiefly confined to the county of Derby, where he
was much respected. In town his business was not great ;
yet in those causes in which be was engaged, his merit,
learning, and eloquence, were universally acknowledged,
and gained him the' esteem and approbation of some of
the greatest ornaments of the profession, among whom
were sir Dudley Ryder, then attorney-general, and the
lord chancellor Hardwicke. In 1753, the chancellor pro-
posed to make him one of his majesty's counsel, und after-
wards king's serjeant : but both these be decliued, chiefly
from a disinclination to London business, and a wish, that
never left bim, of retiring altogether into the country. On
this he was so determined that in 1754, he actually made
what he called bis farewell speech in the court of exchequer,
WILMOT. 1$7.
*
which he bad of late yean attended more than any ether*
Perhaps his disposition was not calculated for forensic dis-
putation, though bis profound .knowledge and indefatigable
labour, as well as ability and penetration, had made him9 ip
the opinion of those who knew him, one of the best law**
yers* of his time. He had more than one offer of a seat in
the House of Commons about this period, but he uuiformly
declined every temptation of this kind. He had not hew*
ever long. enjoyed his retirement in Derbyshire before he
received a summons to town to succeed sir Martin Wright,
as judge of the court of King9 s Bench. With much per-»
suasion, aided perhaps by the increase of his family, con*
sistiog now of five children, be was induced to accept this
preferment in February 1733, which was accompanied, as
usual, with the honour of knighthood. It is not known to
what interest he owed this promotion, and it seems most
fair to conclude that a sense of bis merit only must have
induced bis patrons to send to the country for one so reso-
lute on retirement, when so many, at hand, would hav?
been glad to accept the office.
. In the autumn of. 1736, lord Hard wi eke resigned the
great seal, wbichxontinued for about a year in the bauds
<>f three lords commissioners, chief justice Willes, sir S* S.
Smytbe, and sir John Eardley Wilmot. In March 1757,
sir Eardley bad a most providential escape from being
destroyed at Worcester by the fall of a stack of chimneys
through the roof into court His first, clerk was killed at
his feet, also the attorney in the cause then trying, two of
the jurymen, and some others. Sir Eardley was beginning
to sum up the evidence when the catastrophe happened.
Sir Eardley continued about nine years longer, as one of
the puisne judges of the court of Ring's Bench. The
King's Bench was at this time filled with men of distin-
guished talents, and it is do small, honour to sir, Eardley
Wilmot that he sat for a long period as the worthy coUe^ue
of Mansfield, Dennison, and Foster, ■. Though tjie part £e
took was no* a very cpnspicuous one, from bis situational.
the bench, and from bis native modesty, yet; hi* l^^thr^uV
and those who were acquainted. with Westminster-ball at'
that period* bore testimony that his active mind was ft(ways
engaged, either in or out of. court, ip elucidating some.pb.
soure point, ip nicely weighing questions of the greatest
digtculty, aiftdiio contributing; hi* ahare.towards esppditiag
Md deciding the important suits then under discusjipp ;
•■i »
f 48 W IL'MO t;
t
nor was he less eminent in that important branch o£hs&ju*
dicial office, the administration of the criminal justice of
the kingdom ; and while his pervading mind suffered few
crimes to escape detection and punishment, his humanity
and compassion were often put to the severest trials.
Among many other parts of this laborious profession, to
which sir Eardley bad given unremitting attention, is that
ef taking notes, to which he bad invariably accustomed
himself both before and after he was called to the ban
These notes were transcribed by his1 clerk, and be thus by
degrees became possessed of many volumes of MS. notes,
both in law and equity. The same practice be continued
after he was raised to the bench, till he beard that Mr*
(afterwards sir James) Burrow intended to publish bis notes
from the time of lord Mansfields being appointed chief
justice ; but he uniformly lent Mr. Burrow bis papers from
this period, and with such* short notes as be took himself*
We may here mention that the " Notes of Opinions deli-
vered in different courts," by sir John Eardley Wilmoty
were published in 1802, 4to, by his son, with a memoir of
his life, from which we have extracted the present account,
Although sir Eardley persevered unremittingly in the
discharge of his duty, it was not without a frequent sigh for
a more quiet and retired station than that of the court of
King's Bench. In 1765, a serious treaty was set on foot
by him, to exchange his present tiffice for one, not less
honourable indeed, but undoubtedly at that time less lu-
crative and less conspicuous, that of chief justice of Ches-
ter, which was then held by Mr- Morton \ but the treaty
was at length Woken off, and when in the summer of 1766,
lord Camden, who had been chief justice of the common
pleas about four years, was appointed lord chancellor, sir
Eardley was promoted to the chief justiceship in bis room.
Here, however, as in former instances, his friends bad no
little trouble in overcoming his repugnance to a more ele-
vated situation. It is believed, that next to bis character
for learning and integrity, he was indebted for this pre-
ferment, to the high opinion and esteem of both the old
and new chancellor, and also to the friendship of lord Shel-
bo/rne, appointed at that time one of the secretaries of
state. His lordship, though a much younger man, had
ever since his first acquaintance with him, several years
before, .conceived so great an admiration of his talents,
and esteem for his virtues, that he had long lived with him
W I L M O T. lit
in habits of thel greatest intimacy and friendship; In the
evening of the day that sir Eardley kissed hands on being
appointed chief justice, one of his sons, a youth of seven-
teen, attended him at his bed-side. " Now," said he, "aijr
son, I will tell you a secret worth your knowing and re-
membering ; the elevation I have met with in life, parti-
cularly this last instance of it, has not been owing to any
superior merit or abilities, but to my humility, to my not
having set up myself, above others, and to an uniform en-
deavour to pass through life, void of offence towards God
and man." Sir Eardley was now called to preside in a
court where he had many seniors on the bench ; but the
appointment gave general satisfaction, and his acknow-
ledged abilities, his unaffected modesty and courtesy, soon
made htm as much esteemed and beloved in his new court*
as he had been before in his old one.
In 1768, bishop Warburton, who had the highest opi-
nion of sir Eardley, requested him to become one of the
first trustees^ of his lectureship at Lincoln's-inn chapel*
along with lord Mansfield and Mr. Yorke; and this being
complied with, in 1769, sir Eardley requested his assist-
ance and advice on the occasion of one of his sons pre-
paring himself for the church. The bishop complied, and
sent him the first part of some " Directions for the study of
Theology,9' which have since been printed iri Warburton'*
works, being given to his editor, Dr. Hurd, by the son to whom
they were addressed, the late John Eardley -Wilofot, esq*
Circumstances afterwards induced this son to go into the
profession of the law, on which sir Eardley, in 1771, made
the following indorsement on the bishop's paper. " These
directions were given me by Dr. Warburton, bishop of*
Gloucester, for the use of my son, when he proposed to g*
into orders; but, in the year 1771, he unfortunately pre*
ferred the bar to the. pulpit, and, instead of lying upon a
bed of roses, ambitioned a crown of thorns. Digne puer
mdiore flarmnal" This shews how uniform sir Eardley
was, from his earliest youth, in his predilection for the
church, a predilection which probably influenced, more or
legs, every act of his life* It was about this time, viz. 1769,
that sir Eardley presided in the memorable cause of Mr.
Wilkes against lord Halifax and others, a period pf great
bent and violence, both in parliament and in the nation ;
but be was. so entirely free from all political bias, th&t hi*
conduct gave universal satisfaction. It was an action of
*60 W I L M O T.
trespass for false imprisonment, damages laid at SO,6ot>/. ;
Mr. Wilkes having been taken tip and confined in the
Tower, and bis papers seized and taken away, by virtue of
a general warrant from lord Halifax, one of bis majesty's
secretaries of state. Sir Eardley's speech is published itt
bis Life, and does great credit to bis impartiality. The
jury gave 4000/. damages.
On the resignation of lord Camden, and the subsequent
death of Mr. Yorke, in January 1770, the great seal, with
other honours, was offered to sir Eardley by the duke df
Grafton, and was again pressed upon him in the course of that
year by lord North, the duke's successor, but in vain. Ha
was at this time too fixed in his resolution of retiring alto*
gether from public business, and it seemed to him a good
opportunity to urge the same reason for resigning the office
be held, as for declining the one that was offered him,
namely, ill health, which bad prevented him occasionally
from attending his court. His intention was to have re*
signed without receiving any pension from the crown ; but
when bis resignation was accepted in 1771, be wa» much
surprised and disconcerted to find, that be vas to receive
a pension for life. This he withstood' in two several inter*
views with the first lord of the treasury $ but his majesty
having desired to see him at Buckingham house, was pleased
to declare, that he could not suffer so faithful a servant to
the public to retire, without receiving this mark of appro*
bation and reward for his exemplary services. After this,
sir Eardley thought it would be vanity and affectation to
contend any longer ; and certainly his private fortune
would not have enabled him to live in the manner to which
he had been accustomed. But as he was thus liberally
provided for by his majesty's bounty, be thought the least
he could do was to make every return in his power ; and
having the honour of being one of his majesty's privy
council, he, in conjunction with the venerable sir Thomas
Parker, who bad been chief baron of the exchequer, uni-
formly attended the appeals to the king in council till 17S2,
when his increasing infirmities obliged him to give up this
last part of what he thought his public duty. Of his infir-
mities he gives a most affecting proof in a short letter to
earl Gower, dated Jan. 12 of that year. " My sight and
bearing are extremely impaired ; but my memory is so
•hook, that if 1 could read a case over twenty times, I
could neither understand nor remember it ; and ai my
W I L M O ? . lei
Attendance at council would only expose my infirmities
without being of any service to the public, I caunot think
Of ever putting myself into such a disagreeable situation."
He now retired totally from public business, and saw
very little company during the remainder of his life, except
a few friends, whom time bad hitherto spared. His retreat
from business not only procured him ease and health, but
probably lengthened his life. He died Feb. 5, 1792, aged
eighty- two. He left his eldest surviving son his sole exe-
cutor, with express directions, in his own hand-writing, for
a plain marble tablet to be put up in the church of Berks-
well, in the county of Warwick, with an inscription, con-
taining an account of his birth, death, the dates of his ap-
pointments, and names of his children, "without any other
addition whatever.'9
Sir Eardley's person was of the middle size : his counte-
nance commanding and dignified ; his eye lively, tempered
with sweetness and benignity ; his knowledge extensive
and profound ; and pfcrhaps nothing but invincible modesty
prevented him from equalling the greatest of his prede-
cessors, and fettered his abilities and learning. Though
not fond of the law as a profession, he always declared his
partiality for tbe study of it, and he was also well versed in
the civil law ; a general scholar, but particularly conver-
sant with those branches which had a near connexion with
his legal pursuits, such as history and antiquities, and be
was one of the first fellows of the Society of Antiquaries,
incorporated in \150. In private life be excelled in all
those qualities which render a man respected and beloved.
Genuine and uniform humility was one of his most charac-
teristic virtues.1
WILMOT (John EarDleY), second son of the prer
ceding, was borp in 1748, and received the first rudiments
of education at Derby and at Westminster schools, at both
which places he remained but a very short time. From
thence he was placed at tbe academy at Brunswick ; and
having remained there till he was seventeen, he went to
University college, Oxford, where he was contemporary
with many men who have since distinguished themselves
in public and private life. He was at first intended for the
church, as we have seen in our account of his father ; but;,
upon the death of his elder brother in the East Indies, and
■ Memoirs At above.
Vol, XXXII. M
162 WILMO f. »
upon the elevation of his father to one df the highest judi-
cial situations, his intended pursuits were changed, and the
profession of the law was ultimately fixed upon. From All
Souls college, of which he had been elected a fellow, he
Removed to the Temple, and studied the law under the
superintendance of sir Eardley. He was at the usual time
called to the bar, and went the Midland circuit. He soon
after married the only daughter of S. Sainthill, esq. by
whom he had four daughters and one son, all of whom sur-
vived him.
In 1783, he was made a master in chancery, having been,
chosen for Tiverton, in Devonshire, in the two preceding
parliaments. Though seldom taking an active part in the
debates of those times, he was always attentive to the im-
portant duties of a member of parliament, and constant m
his attendance in the House. He uniformly opposed the
American war, and though at the termination of that con-
test, when the claims of the American loyalists were to be
inquired into, and satisfied, it was most natural to suppose
that some gentleman on the other side of the House would
have been appointed commissioner for that purpose, yet
Mr. Wil mot's known abilities, integrity, and benevolence,
were so universally acknowledged, that his nomination to
that arduous office gave perfect satisfaction. How far the
labours of himself and colleagues were crowned with suc-
cess, the universal approbation of this country, and of
America, sufficiently testify.
In 1784 he was elected, with lord Eardley, his brother-
in-law, member for Coventry, in opposition to lord Shef-
field and Mr. Conway, now marquis of Hertford, whither
they had gone to add to the triumphant majority which
ultimately secured Mr. Pitt in his situation as prime minister.
It was in the summer of 1790, that the revolutionary
storm, so long collecting in France, suddenly discharged
itself; and an immense number of French clergy and laity
took refuge in this country. The subject of these memoirs
was then in town ; and the continual scenes of distress he
was daily witnessing in the streets, added to particular in-
stances of misery which came under his own immediate ob-
servation, induced him alone, without previous communi-
cation with any one, to advertize for a meeting of the gen-
tlemen then in town, at the Freemason's Tavern, to take
into consideration some means of affording relief to their
Christian brethren. The meeting was most numerous and
W I L M 6 f . 16&
rfespectablfe ; the archbishop of Canterbury, many bishops*
and most of the nobility then in London, attending; and
Mr. Wilmot being called to the chair, and having stated
his object in calling them together, subscriptions to a large
amount were immediately entered into; and a fund created*
which, with the assistance of parliament, and the contri-
butions of every parish in the kingdom, relieved, and cori*
tinued to relieve until the late prosperous events rendered a
continuance unnecessary, those unhappy exiles from their
native country. Mr. Wilmot continued, till he retired into
the country a few years before his death, to dispense under;
government this national bounty ; a task well suited to that
universal benevolence and kindness of heart which so
eminently distinguished him, and in which he had few
equals, and none superior.
In 17S3 he married a second wife, Sarah Anne, daughter!
*of col. Haslatri ; by whom he had a son and a daughter,
both of whom died in their infancy;
It was in the spring of 1304, that, finding himself ill
able* from bodily infirmity, to continue the various em-
ployments be had so long zealously fulfilled, as also frortl
an innate and hereditary love of retirement and study, he
resolved to quit London entirely, and live in the country*
He accordingly resigned his mastership in chancery, his
situation as distributor of relief to the French refugees,
and some of the many important trusts which his own kind-
ness and the importunity of friends had induced him to
accept. He bought Bruce castle, formerly the seat of the
Coleraine family, situated at Tottenham, about five miles
from London ; near enough to town to. continue what re-
mained of the duty of commissioner of American claims,
and to discharge several trusts, which were of a family na-
ture. Here he passed a, considerable part of his time in
reading and study, and prepared his father's notes and
reports for the press, with the Memoirs of his life already
mentioned. The " Memoirs** were sold separately, with
a fine engraving of sir Eardley, from a painting by Dawe.
Soon after, he engaged on the Life and Letters of bishop
Hough, which appeared in a very splendid 4to volume in
1812. Besides these, he published in 1779 " A s*hort De-
fence of the Opposition/' in answer to a pamphlet entitled
€€ A short History of the Opposition ;" and in 1780 he col-
lated " A treatise of the Laws and Customs of England/'
written by Kanylf Glanvil, in the time of Henry II. with
M 2
164 W 1 L M O T.
the MSS. in the Harleian, Cotton ian, Bodleian, and Dr.
Mills' a libraries, and printed it in Latin, 12mo. His Fast
laboiir was a " History of the Commission of American
Claims,1* printed in 1815.
Mr. Wilmot died at Tottenham, June 23, 1315, in the
sixty-seventh year of his age, lamented by all who knew
the virtues of his public and private character. *
WILSON (Arthur), an English historian, was the son
of Richard Wilson, of Yarmouth, in the county of Nor*
folk, gentleman ; and was born in that county, 1596. la
1609 he went to France, where he continued almost two
years ; and upon his return to England was placed with sir
Henry Spiller, to be one of his clerks in the exchequer
office ; in whose family be resided till having written some
satirical verses upon one of the maid-servants, he was dis-
missed at lady Spiller' s instigation. In 1613 he took a
lodging in Holborn, where he applied himself to reading
and poetry for some time ; and, the year after, was taken
into the family x>f Robert earl of Essex, whom be attended
into the Palatinate in 1620; to the siege of Dornick, in
Holland,, in 1621 ; to that of Rees in 1622 ; to Arnheim,
in 1623 ; to the siege of Breda in 1624 ; and in the expe-
dition to Cadiz in 1625. In 1630 he was discharged the
earl's service, at the importunity of his lady, who hadxocv-
ceived an aversion to him, because she had supposed him
to have been against the earl's marrying her. He tells us,
in his own life, that this lady's name, before she married
the earl, was Elizabeth Paulet ; that " she appeared to the
eye a beauty, full of harmless sweetness ; that her conver-
sation was affable and gentle ; «and, as he was firmly per*
suaded, that it was not forced, but natural. But the height
of her marriage and greatness being an accident, altered
her very nature ; for," he says, " she was the true im^ge
of Pandora's box,"* nor was he much mistaken, for this
lady was divorced for adultery two years after her mar-
riage. In 1631 he retired to Oxford, and became gentle-
man commoner of Trinity college, where he stayed almost
two years, and was punctual in his compliance with the
laws of the university. Then he was sent for to be steward
to the earl of Warwick, whom he attended in 1637 to the
siege of Breda. He died in 1652, at Felstead, in Essex,
and his will was proved in October of that year. The earl
i Gent Mag. toI. IXXXV.
WILSON. 165
and countess of Warwick received from him the whole of
fais library, and 50/. to be laid out in purchasing a piece of
gold plate, as a memorial, particularly applying to the
latter, " in testimony," as he adds, " of my humble duty
And gratitude for all her noble and undeserved favours to
me." Gratitude seems to have been a strong principle
with Wilson, as appears from his life, written by himself,
and printed in Peck's " Desiderata." Wood's account of
him is, that " be had little skill in the Latin tongue, less
in the Greek, a good readiness in the Freucb, and some
smattering in the Dutch. He was well seen in the ma-
thematics and poetry, and sometimes in the common law
of the nation. He had composed some comedies, which
were acted at the Black Friars, in London, by the king's
players, and in the act-time at Oxford, with good applause,
himself being present ; but whether they are printed I can-
not yet tell ; sure I am, that I have several specimens of
his poetry printed in divers books. His carriage was very
courteous and obliging, and such as did become a well-
bred 'gentleman. He also had a great command of the
English tongue, as well in writing as speaking ; and, had
he bestowed his endeavours on any other subject than that
v of history, they would without doubt have seemed better.
For, in those things which he hath done, are wanting the
' principal matters conducing to the completion of that fa-
culty, viz. matter from record, exact time, name, and
place, which, by his endeavouring too much to set out his
bare collections in an affected and bombastic style, are
much neglected." The history here alluded to by Wood,
is " The Life and Reign of king James I." printed in Lon-
don in 1653, folio; that is, the year after his death; and
reprinted in the 2d volume of " The complete History of
England," in 1706, folio. This history has been severely
treated by many writers. Mr. William Sanderson says, that,
**to give Wilson his due, we may find truth and falsehood
finely put together in it." Heylin, in the general preface
to his u Examen," styles Wilson's history " a most famous
pasquil of the reign of king James ; in which it is not easy to
judge whether the matter be more false, or the style more
reproachful to all parts thereof." Mr. Thomas Fuller, in his
4t Appeal of injured Innocence," observes, how Robert
earl of Warwick told him at Beddington, that, when Wilson's
book in manuscript was brought to him, bis lordship ex-
puuged more than an hundred offensive passages : to which
166 WILSON,
Mr. Fuller replied, " My lord, you have done well ; and.
you had done better if you had put out a hundred tnore.1*
Mr. Wood's sentence is, " that, in our author's history,
may easily be discerned a partial presbyterian vein, that
constantly goes through the whole work : and it being the
genius of those people to pry more than they should into
the courts and comportments of princes, they do take oc-?
casion thereupon to traduce and bespatter them. Further
also, our author, having endeavoured in many things tq
make the world believe that king James and his son after
him were inclined to Popery, and to bring that religion
}nto England, hath made him subject to many errors and
misrepresentations." On the other band, archdeacon
Echard tells us, that l(> Wilson's History of the life and
reign of king James, though written not without some
prejudices and rancour in respect to some persons, and too
much with the air of a romance, is thought to be the best
of that kind extant :'• and the writer of the notes on the
edition of it in the " Complete History of England" re-?
marks, that, as to the style of our author's history, " it is
harsh and broken, the periods often obscure, and sometimes
without connection ; faults, that were common in most wri-
ters of that time. Though he finished that history in the
year 1652, a little before his death, when both the monar-
chy and hierarchy were overturned, it does pot appear he
was an enemy to either, but only to the corruptions of
them; as he intimates irj the picture he draws of himself
before that book."
The plays mentioned by Wood were " The Switzer,n
? c The Corporal," and the " Inconstant Lady," all which
were entered in Stationers --ball in 1646 and 1653, but it
does not appear that they were printed. ** The Inconstant
Lady," however, was lately printed at Oxford in 1814,
4 to, from a manuscript bequeathed in 1755 to the Bodleian
library by Dr. Rawlinson, with curious notes by the editor,
and many circumstances of Wilson's life apd character. J
WILSON (Bernard), an English divine and writer, was
born in 1689, and became a member of Trinity-college,
Oxford, where he took bis degree of B. A. in 1712, and
that of A. M. in 1719. In the following year he Was pre-
bendary of Lowtbi, and afterwards of Scamblesbey in the
church of Lincoln in 1727, about which time be was {Uso
* Life by himself ip Peck.— Ath. Ox. vol. IL
WILSON. 167
vicar of Newark in Nottinghamshire, master of the hospital
there, and an alderman. He is thought to have owed his
preferments chiefly to bishop Reynolds of Lincoln. From
the crown he had a prebend of Worcester, and another of
Carborough in Lichfield, where he had a house given him
by bishop Chandler. * In July 1735, he was presented to
Bottesford in Leicestershire, but never took possession of it.
In 1737 be took his degree of D. D. He died April 30,
1772, aged eighty-three, and was interred in the church
of Newark with an inscription, extolling his extensive be-
nevolence, by bis nephew Robert Wilson Cracroft, esq.
Although a man of learning and address, of a very1
charitable disposition, and enjoying distinguished patron-
age, he seems frequently to have been involved in disputes
which cast some shade on his character. At one time he
received a great accession of property, by the will of sir
George Markbam, but was obliged to publish a defence of
himself, in a quarto pamphlet, against the insinuations of
sir George's relations. In 1747 he was prosecuted for
breach of promise of marriage by a Miss Davids of Castle-
yard, Holborn, and the case appeared to the jury in such
a light, that they gave 7000/. damages, yet we see that he
was at this time fifty-eight years of age. Some pamphlets
were also published concerning his disputes with the parish
of Newark, to which he left ample benefactions, but these
were lost to the poor by the Mortmain act. He translated
some parts of Fleury, but his greatest undertaking was a
translation of Thuanus, of which he published vol. I. in
1729, and vol. II. in 1730. It is perhaps to be regretted
that want of encouragement obliged him to desist, for
these are two elegantly printed folios, and the completion
would have done credit to the age.1
WILSON (Florence), known in his own time, among
scholars, by the name of Florentius Volusenvs, was. bom
at Elgin, in Scotland, about the beginning of the sixteenth
century, and was educated in his native place, whence be
removed for academical studies to the university of Aber-
deen. On quitting college, he went to England, where
his talents recommended him to the notice of cardinal
Wolsey, who made him preceptor to his nephew, whom he
afterwards accompanied to Paris for education, and re-
mained with him till the death of Wolsey, which for 4
1 Nichols's Bowyer.
16S WILSON,
time eclipsed bis prospects. < He was soon afterwards taken
under the protection of the learned cardinal du Bellai9
archbishop of Paris, but here again the disgrace at court
of this second patron proved a severe disappointment.
Wilson, however, adhered to the cardinal, and would have
accompanied him to Rome, but he fell sick at Avignon,
aqd the cardinal being obliged to leave him, his finances
were too much exhausted to allow any thoughts of bis ac-
complishing the journey alone, and his patron's change, of
fortune having probably put the offer of sufficient assist*
ance out of his power, Mr. Wilson found himself com*,
pelled to abandon a project, in which both affection and
curiosity had so warmly interested his heart
At this time the cardinal Sadolet was in residence upon
bis bishopric of Carpentras. His name in the republic of
letters was inferior to very few. in the fifteenth and six-
teenth centuries ; nor was he less celebrated for his libe*-
rality towards learned men in circumstances of want and
distress. Mr. Wilson, as soon as the re-establishment of.
his health permitted, took the resolution of paying him a
visit. Although it was night at Mr. Wilson's arrival, the,
courtesy of the cardinal,, .then engaged in study } gave bim
immediate access. He first learned from the stranger, that
bis visit was occasioned, partly by bis desire of seeing a
person not less illpstrious by his learned writings than the
eminence of his station, and partly by his wish to recom-r
mend himself, through the cardinal's interest, to the em*
ployment of teaching the Creek and Latin languages to
tbe youth of the city. Mr. Wilson's eloquent command of
the Latin tongue, and tbe proof which he soqn gave of
superior understanding and knowledge, inspired the car-,
dinal with such prepossession in his favour, that he was
unwilling to part with him, till he had learnt tbe particu-
lars of the stranger's country, his parentage, his education,
and the different scenes of life through which he bad
passed. Greatly interested by the narrative, he rose early
the next morning, and, demanding a conference with the
magistrates, consulted them on Mr. Wilson's proposition;
but not* wishing their decision to be solely the result of his
recommendation, he invited them on a certain day to . an
entertainment, a kind of symposium at bis palace ; during
which he contrived to engage Mr. Wilson, in disputation
with a learned physician on certain points of Natural Phi-
losophy.
WILSON. 169
It does not appear, that his learning and accomplish-
ments ever procured him any thing better from this period
than bis laborious though honourable employment of teach-
ing the ancient languages at Carpentras. It was perhaps
to reconcile himself to the mediocrity of his lot, that
during his residence in that city he composed his excellent
book " De Tranquillitate Animi." If he possessed that
contentment and peace of mind which made the subject of
these contemplations, the first blessing of life was bis, and
which wealth and station only have never bestowed on
man.
This work is written in dialogue. The speakers are,
Franciscus Michaelis, a patrician of Lucca, Demetrius,
Caracal la, and the author himself. The first part of the
work, and about one third of the whole, is taken up with
proving, partly from the sentiments of the author, but
chiefly from those of the ancient philosophers, moralists,
and poets, that tranquillity of mind is a practicable acqui-
sition, in answer to the doubts and objections of the other
interlocutors. In this part, and indeed throughout the
whole work, Mr. Wilson displays a vast compass of learn-
ing, and an intimate acquaintance with all the Greek and
Latin classics; many apt and beautiful quotations from
them adorn bis treatise; not to. mention several little poems
of his own composition interspersed, which at once en-
liven the piece, and give the reader a very advantageous
idea of the author's poetic genius and talent for Latin ver-
sification. This work was first printed by Gryphius, at
Leyden, 1543, and reprinted at Edinburgh in 1571, 8v*.
A third edition was printed at Edinburgh in 1707, cor-
rected by Rudditnan; and there is a fourth, 1751, with a
preface by Dr. John Warct.
About 1546, the tenth year of Mr. Wilson's residence 'at
Carpentras, after having taught the belles lettres with great
reputation, and established the character of a very learned,
ingenious, and worthy man, he felt a strong desire to re-
visit his native country. But the doctrines of the Refor-
mation having now got some footing in Scotland, Mr. Wil-
son was aware of the difficulties which he should have to
contend with on his return. He had therefore recourse to
.his friend and patron the cardinal Sadolet, at that time at
Rome. He wrote to request his advice, in what manner
he 'should conduct himself betwixt religious parties in his
own country. We find the answer in the sixteenth book
170 WILSON.
of Sadolet's Epistles, dated 1546, and the substance of it
is to recommend an adherence to the religion of his fore*
fathers. From a Romish cardinal no other could be ex-
pected, Wilson now determined upon his journey to
Scotland, but falling sick at Vienne in Dauphiny, his pro-
gress was suddenly stopped. His disorder increased beyond
the power of medical relief; and he expired on the banks
of the Rhone 1547.
Besides the work mentioned in the course of Mr. Wil-
son's life, be wrote a book of Latin poems, printed in
London 1619, 4to; also " Commentatio Theologica, in
Aphorismos dissecta, per Sebast. Gryphseum," 1539, 8vo ;
and " Philosophise Aristotelicce Synopsis," Lib. IV.
Whether this last article ever appeared in print is
doubtful. '
WILSON (Richard), a very distinguished artist of the
last century, was born in 1714, and was the son of the
rector of Pineges, in Montgomeryshire, who was after-
wards collated to the living of Mould in Flintshire. Ed-
wards says, that " his connections were highly respectable,
being maternally related to the late lord chancellor Cam-
den, who was pleased to acknowledge him as his cousin."
Jlis father gave him a good education, and as he early dis-
covered a taste for painting,, sent him to London, and
placed him under the tuition of one Thomas Wright, a
portrait-painter of very slender abilities. Wilson, there-
fore, began his career as a portrait-painter but with a me-
diocrity that afforded no luminous hopes of excellence ;
yet he must have acquired some rank in his profession, for
we find, that in 1749, he painted a large picture of his
present majesty, and of his brother the late duke of York,
After having practised some years at London, be went to
Italy, and continued the study of portrait-painting, until
a small landscape of his, executed with a considerable
share of freedom and spirit, casually meeting the eye of
Zuccarelli, so pleased the Italian, that he strenuously ad-
vised him to follow that mode of painting, as most conge-
nial to his powers, and therefore most likely to obtain for
him fame as well as profit.
This flattering encomium from an artist of Zuccarelli's
knowledge and established reputation, produced such an
1 Life by Dr. Lctttqe.— Earop. Mag. 1195. — Mackenzie's Scotch Writers,
Vol. 111.— QhalmeiVs Life of Ruddimao*
WILSON. 171
influence on Wilson, as to determine him at once to torn
from portrait to landscape, which be pursued with vigour
and success. To this fortunate accident is owing the splen-
dour diffused by bis genius over this country, and even over
Italy itself, whose scenes have been the frequent subjects
of his pencil. His studies, indeed, in this branch of the
art, must have been attended with rapid success, for he
had some pupils in landscape while at Rome, and his works
were so much esteemed that Mengs paintefl his portrait, for
which Wilson, in return, painted a landscape.
It is not known at what tijne he returned to England, but
he was ia London in 1758, and resided over the north
arcade of the piazza, Covent-garden, at which time he had
gained great celebrity as a landscape-painter. To the first
exhibition of 1760, he sent his picture of Niobe, which is
now ip the possession of his royal highness the duke of
Gloucester. , Sir Joshua Reynolds, in his last lecture but
one, has offered some strictures on the figures intro-
duced in this celebrated picture, in which Mr. Fuseli
$eema to agree, but which Edwards labours to oppose ; and
even to trace sir Joshua's opinion to private pique. In
1765, Wilson exhibited, with other pictures, a view of
Rome, from the villa Madama, a capital performance,
which was purchased by the late marquis of Tavistock,
and is probably in the collection of the duke of Bedford.
When the Royal Academy was instituted, he was chosen one
pf the founders, and, after the death of Hayman, was
made librarian ; an office which his necessities rendered
desirable, and which he retained until his decayed health
compelled him to retire to his brother's in Wales, where
he died in May 1782. Mr. Opie says, in his " Lectures,"
that Wilson, though second to no name of any school or
country in classical and heroic landscape, succeeded with
difficulty, by pawning some of his works at the age of
seventy (sixty-seven or sixty-eight), in procuring ten gui-*
neas to carry him to die in unhonoured and unnoticed ob-
scurity in Wales.' * Edwards informs us, that " though he
had acquired great fame, yet he did not find that constant
employment which his abilities deserved. This neglect
' might ptt&ably result from his own conduct ; for it must
be coriWbli that Mr. Wilson was not very prudendaUy
attentive toHiis interest ; and though a man of strong sense,
% and superior education to most of the artists of his time,
he certainly did not possess that suavity of manners whicfy
172 W I L S O N.
i
distinguished many of bis contemporaries. On this ac-
count, his connexions and employment insensibly 4imij>
nished, and left him, in the latter part of bis life, in com-
fortless infirmity." This appears to us but a sorry excuse
for the neglect Wilson met with ; for what has patronage
to do with the temper of an artist ? Wilson's taste was s#
exquisite, says Fuseli, and his eye so chaste, that what-
ever came from his easel bore the stamp of elegance and
truth. The subjects he chose were such as did credit to
his judgment. They were the selections of taste ; and whe-
ther of the simple, the elegant, or the sublime, they were
treated with an equal felicity. Indeed, he possessed that
versatility of power, as to be one minute an eagle sweeping
the heavens, and the next, a wren twittering a simple note
on the humble thorn. His colouring was in general vivid
and natural ; his touch, spirited and free ; his composi-
tion, simple and elegant; his lights and shadows, broad
and well distributed ; his middle tints in perfect harmony,
while his forms in general produced a pleasing impression.
Wilson has been called the English Claude; a comparison
which Mr. Fuseli cannot admit, from the total dissimilarity
of their style. " Claude," he adds, " little above medi-
ocrity in all other branches of landscape-painting, had
one great prerogative, sublimity ; but his powers rose and
set with the sun, be could only be serenely sublime or roman-
tic. Wilson, without so great a feature, had a more varied and
more proportionate power : he observed nature in all her
appearances, and had a characteristic touch for all her
forms. But though in effects of dewy freshness and silent
evening lights few equalled, and fewer excelled him, his
grandeur is oftener allied to terror, bustle, and convulsion,
than to calmness ancl tranquillity. Figures, it is difficult
to say, which of the two introduced or handled with greater
infelicity : treated by Claude or Wilson, St. Ursula with
her Virgins, and iEneas Landing, Niobe with her family,
or Ceyx drawn on the shore, have an equal claim to our in-
difference or mirth." '
WILSON (Thomas), a. statesman and divine in the
reign of queen Elizabeth, celebrated for the politeness of
bis style and the extent of his knowledge, was the son of
Thomas Wilson of Stroby in Lincolnshire, by Anne daugh-
ter and beir of Roger Comberwortb, of Comberworth in
) Edwardt's Anecdotes of Painters.— Pilkington by Foscli.
WILSON. 173
the srfme county. He was educated at Eton, and at King'^»
tfollege, Cambridge ; and went thence into the family 6f
Charles Brandon, duke of Suffolk, who intrusted him with the
eduoation of his two sons. During the reign of Mary, to
whose persecution many fugitives owed their qualifications
for future honours, he lived abroad, received the degree of
doctor of laws at Ferrara, and was for some time imprisoned
by the inquisition at Rome, on account of his two treatises
on rhetoric and logic, which he had published in England,
and in the English language, several years before. He is
said to have suffered the torture, and \yould have been put
to death, on refusing to deny his faith, had not a fire hap-
pened, which induced the populace to force open the pri-
son, that those confined there might not perish, by which
means be escaped ; and, returning to England, after queen
Mary's death, was appointed one of the masters of requests,
and master of St. Katherine's hospital near the Tower.
This was in the third year of queen Elizabeth, at which
time he was her majesty's secretary ; but finding his patent
for the mastership of St. Katherine's void, because he was
not a priest, according to queen Philippa's charter, be
surrendered the office, and bad a new patent, with a nan
obstante, Dec. 7, 1563. According to Dr. Ducarel, his
conduct in this office was somewhat objectionable, as he
sold to the city of London the fair of St. Katherine's, for
the sum of 700 marks, surrendered the charter of Henry
VI. and took a new one 8. Elizabeth, leaving out the li-
berty of the aforesaid fair; and did many other things very
prejudicial to his successors. In 1561 he bad been admit*
ted a civilian; and in 1576 he was sent on an embassy to
the Low Countries, where he acquitted himself so well, that
in the following year be was named to succeed sir Thomas
Smith as secretary of state; and in 1579 obtained a
deanery of Durham. He died in 1581, and was buried in
St, Katherine's church. He was endowed with an uncom-
mon strength of memory, which enabled him to act with
remarkable dispatch in bis negociatious. Yet he was more
distinguished as a scholar than as a minister, and was per-
haps unfortunate in having served jointly with the illus-
trious Walsingham, whose admirable conduct in his office
admitted of no competition. Sir Thomas Wilson married
Anne, daughter of sir William Winter, of Lidney in Glou-
cestershire, and left three children : Nicholas, who settled
at Sheep wash in Lincolnshire ; M^ry, married, first, to Ro-
174 W 1 L $ O Ni
bert Burdett, of Bramcote in Warwickshire, secondly td
sir Christopher Lowther, of Lowther in Westmoreland 5
and Lucretia, wife of George Belgrave, of Belgrave in
Leicestershire.
Sir Thomas Wilson wrote, 1." Epistola de vita et obiiti
duorum fratrum Suffolciensium, HenricietCafoli Brandon,"
Lend. 1552, 4to, prefixed" to a collection of verses written
on their deaths by several scholars of Oxford and Cam-
bridge. Of this rare book there are only three copies
known, one in the Bodleian, another in the British nra*
seum, and a third in the magnificent library of earl Spencer.
2. " The rule of Reason, containing the art of Logic," 1 55 f ^
1552, 1553, 1567, 4to. 3. " The art of Rhetoric," 1553,
4to, often reprinted. 4. ** Discourse upon Usury," Lorid.
1572, a work much praised by Dr. Lawrence Humphrey*
the queen's professor of divinity at Oxford, in his life of
Jewell. Wilson also translated from Greek into English,
" The three Orations of Demosthenes, chief orator among
the Grecians," Lond. 1570. Of his "Art of Logic," Mr.
Warton says that such a " display of the venerable mys*
teries of this art in a vernacular language, which had
hitherto been confined within the sacred pale of the learned
tongues, was esteemed an innovation almost equally da*
ring with that of permitting the service of the church to be
^celebrated in English ; and accordingly the author, soon
afterwards happening to visit Rome, was incarcerated by
the inquisitors of the holy see, as a presumptuous and
dangerous heretic." Of his "Art of Rhetoric," Mr. War-
ton says, it is liberal and discursive, illustrating the arts of
eloquencg-'by example, and examining and ascertaining
the beauties of composition with the speculative skill ana
sagacity of a critic. It may therefore be justly considered
as the first book or system of criticism in our language*
This opinion Mr. Warton confirms by very copious ex*
tracts. *
WILSON (Thomas) a puritan divine, of the sixteenth
century, was minister of St. George's church, in Canter-
bury, one of the six preachers hi that city, chaplain to lord
\ Wotton, and a man of high reputation. We have, how-
ever, no particulars of his early life. He preached at Can-
terbury thirty-six years, and was assiduous and indefatU
1 Tanner. — Ath. Ox. vol. II. new edit — Strype's Annals. — Lodge's III titra-
tions, vol. II. — WartonVHist. of Poetry.— 'Hutchinson's Hist, of Durham, vol.
II. p. 152.<r"Dttearel,8 Hist of St. Katherine's,
WILSON. 175
gable in all the duties of his sacred office. He died in
Jaa. 1621, on the 25th of which raopth his funeral ser-
mon, wbjch has been printed, was preached by William
Swift, minister of St. Andrew's, at Canterbury, and great
grandfather of dean Swift. His works are, 1, " A Com-
mentary on the Romans,9' 1614, a work much approved*
2. " Christ's farewell to Jerusalem," 1614. 3. " Theolo-
gical Rules," 1615. 4. " A complete Christian Dictionary,"
fol. of which the sixfh edition, with a continuation by Bag-
well and Symson, was published in 1655. This was one
of the first attempts, in English, towards a concordance of
the Bible. Mr. Wilson wrote some other pieces of less
note. *
> WILSON (Thomas), the pious and venerable bishop
of Sodojr and Man, was born atJBurton, a village in the
hundred of Wirrel, in the county Palatine of Chester, ia
1663. He was educated in the city of Chester until quali-
fied for the university, when he was entered of Trinity
college, Dublin. During his residence there he made
great proficiency in academical studies, and had at first an
intention of devoting himself to that of physic as a profes-
sion, but he was soon persuaded by a dignitary of the
church to turn his thoughts to divinity. He continued at
college till 1686, when he was ordained a deacon by the
bishop of Kildare, soon after which he left Ireland, partly
owing to the confusions which prevailed .under the un-
happy reign of king Japnes II. ; and in the latter end of the
same year, became curate of New Church, in the parish
of Winwick, in Lancashire, of which his maternal uncle,
Dr. Sherlock, was then rector, and here he first displayed
his affectionate and conscientious regard for the poor, by
setting apart a tenth of his income (which was only 30/, a
year) to charitable purposes.
In 1689 he entered into priest's orders, and it was not
long before his excellent character recommended him to
the notice of the. earl of Derby, who, in 1692, appointed
him his domestic chaplain, and preceptor to his son, lord
Strange, with a salary of 30/. and he being appointed about
the same time master of the alms-house at Latham, worth
20/. a year more, he set apart a fifth part of the whole for
pious uses. In this situation he remained till 1697, when,
to use his own words, " he was forced into the bishopric of
1 Brook's Lives of the Puritans.— Granger.
176 W 1 L 8 0 K.
* *
the Isle of Man/' a promotion for which he was in all re~~
spects eminently qualified. fteing first created doctor erf
laws by the archbishop of Canterbury, he was confirmed
bishop of Man at Bow church, Jan. 15, 1697-8, and next
, day was consecrated at the Savoy church, by Dr. Sharp,
archbishop of York.
In the beginning of April following he landed in thelshb
of Man, and was enthroned in the cathedral of St. Ger-
main's in Peel Castle. His palace be found almost a ruin.
It had not been inhabited for eight years, and nothing but
an ancient tower and chapel remained entire. He was,
therefore, obliged to rebuild it, and the expence, which
amounted to 1400/. interrupted, in some measure, his cha-
rity to the poor, but this he soon resumed, and his bene-
ficence ever afterwards increased with his income. About
this time the earl of Derby offered him the valuable living
of Baddesworth, in Yorkshire, to hold in commendum, pro-
bably as a compensation for the expences he had been at ;
bat he declined the offer, as being incompatible with his
resolution never to take two ecclesiastical preferments with
cure of souls, especially when he must necessarily be ab-
sent from one.of them.
In l€99 bishop Wilson published a small tract in Manks
and English, the first work ever printed in the former
language, entitled " The Principles and Duties of Chris-
tianity, for the use of the island/' where a great degree of
ignorance prevailed, and wjbere it was necessary to diffuse
elementary treatises written in the plainest manner, which
is the characteristic of most of our prelate's writings, and
predominated also in his sermons. By the advice, and
with the assistance of Dr. Bray, be likewise began to
found parochial libraries throughout his diocese, giving to
each a proper book-case, and furnishing them with Bibles
and such other books as were calculated to instruct the
people in the great truths and duties of religion. In the
beginning of 1707 the degree of D. D. was conferred upon
him by the universities of Oxford and Cambridge. Aboot
this time also he was admitted a member of the society for
promoting Christian knowledge, and in the same year he
had the church catechism printed in Manks and English,
for the use of the schools which he had established itr va-
rious parts of his diocese, and which he superintended with
the greatest care. Indeed he applied himself with singular
diligence to all the duties of his sacred function, and also
WILSON. 177
endeavoured, both by bis exhortations and example, to
animate the clergy of the island to a regular and faithful
discharge of their pastoral office. With this view they
were occasionally assembled in convocation at Bishop's
court (the name of t(ie episcopal palace), where our prelate
delivered such charges as circumstances required, earnestly
pressing them at all times to attend to the care of their
flocks, and to endeavour, by all possible methods, to plant
the fear of God in the hearts of the people. One of his
leading objects was to maintain and preserve, in their full
force, those ecclesiastical constitutions which he had
established in 1703, and by which he hoped to revive in
60 me measure the primitive discipline of the church. The
lord chancellor King was so much pleased with these con*
stitutions as to declare, that " if the ancient discipline of
the church were lost, it might be found in all its purity in
the Isle of Man."
From this time our prelate continued to perform all the
offices of a good bishop and a. good man ; and we hear
little mope of him till 1721 and 1722, when the orthodoxy
of his spirit, and zeal for church-discipline, seem to have
involved him in. altercations and difficulties. When the
famous work called" The Independent Whig," came into
tfce diocese of Man, the bishop immediately issued an act
against it, dated Jan. 27, 1721, declaring its purpose to be
subversive of the doctrine, discipline, and government, of
the church, as well as undermining the Christian religion.
But bis zeal against it did not atop here, for he took it
upon, him to seize it wherever, he found it : and accord-
ingly, when Mr. Worth ington sent it as a present to the
public library of the island, the bishop commanded one
Stevenson to take and keep it ; so that it should neither be
deposited in the library, nor yet restored to, the right
owner. Complaint was made to the governor of the island,
who committed Stevenson to prison till he should make
reparation. The bishop remonstrated', and the governor
replied, in which reply he charged the bishop, who had
pleaded obedience to the king's commands in his attempts
to. suppress irreljgioh, with having neglected to use the
prayers composed in the. time of the rebellion in 1715^
which was also an equal object of obedience. The issue
of this affair was, that the book was restored, and Steven*
ipn set at liberty.
, But there happened another dispute between the bishop
Vol. XXXII. N
17S v W I L S O N.
and the governor, which, so far as the bishop was personally
concerned, was much more serious ; and it is related thus :
Mrs. Home, the governor's wife, had defamed Mrs. Puller
and sir Jam^s Pool with a false charge of criminal conver-
sation ; and, in consequence of being contumacious, and
refusing to ask pardon of the persons injured, was by the
bishop interdicted from the holy communion. But Mr.
Horribin, his archdeacon, who was chaplain to captain
Home, received Mrs. Home to the communion, and was
suspended by the bishop. Upon this, the governor, con-
ceiving that the bishop had acted illegally, fined him 50/.
and his two vicars-general 20/. each ; and, on their refusing
to pay this fine, committed them all, June 29, 1722, to
Castle Rushin, a damp and. gloomy prison, where they
were closely confined, and no persons were admitted within
the walls to see or converse with them, and where Dr.
Wilson was treated with a rigour which no protestant bishop
had experienced since the reformation.
The concern of the people was so great when they heard
of this tyrannical treatment of their beloved pastor and
friend, that they assembled in crowds, and it was with
difficulty they were restrained from proceeding to violence
and outrage against the governor, by the bishop himself*
who, being permitted to speak to them through a grated
window, exhorted them to peace, and told them that he
intended to appeal to the king, and did not doubt bat hit
majesty would vindicate his cause. He also sent a circular
letter to his clergy, drawn up in such terms as seemed
most proper for appeasing the people, and desired it might
be generally communicated throughout the island. After
some delays, owing to the technical formalities of law, the
bishop's appeal was heard before the lords justices in coun-
cil, July 18, 1723, and the proceedings of the governor
were reversed, as extrajudicial and irregular, and the fines
were ordered to be restored to the bishop and his vicars*
general. This was accordingly done, and upon the bishop's
application for costs, the king, by the president of the
council, and sir Robert Walpole, promised that be would
see him satisfied. Iri consequence of this engagement,
the king, some time after, offered him the bishopric of
Exeter, then vacant, to reimburse him, but our unambi-
tious prelate could not be prevailed upon to quit his own
diocese ; upon which his majesty promised to defray his
sxpences out of the privy puree, and gave it in charge to
WILSON. 179
lord T«>wnsend, lord Carleton, and sir Robert Walpole, to
remind him of it ; but the king going soon afterwards to
Hanover, and' dying before his return, this promise was
never fulfilled. The only recompense he had was by a
subscription set on foot by the archbishop of York, amount-
ing to 300/. not a sixth part of the expences of his appli-
cation.to the crown. To add to the indignation which we
are confident every reader will feel, it may be mentioned,
that from the dampness of the prison in which the bishop
was confined by the brutal governor, he contracted a dis-
order in his right hand, which disabled ,him from the free
use ot his ringers, and he ever after wrote with his whole
hand grasping the pen. He wa"s advised to prosecute the
governor, &c. in the English courts of law, to recover
damages ; but to this he could not be persuaded, and ex-
tended his forgiveness to tbose who had ill-used him, in
the most sincere and liberal manner.
After this absence from his' diocese of eighteen mouths,
which he had spent mostly in London, where he was .be-
loved and admired to a degree of enthusiasm by all clashes
of f>eople, he returned to the island, and resumed his ex-
enfplary course. In 1735 he came to England for the last
time, to visit his son, the subject of the following article;
and being introduced at the court of George II. he was
much noticed by their majesties, and particularly by queen
Caroline, who was very desirous of keeping him in Eng-
land, but he could not be prevailed upon to quit his poor
diocese, the value of which did not exceed 300/. a year.
On his return he visited the province of York at the request
of archbishop Blackburn, and confirmed upwards of fifteen
thousand persons.
, In 1739 the clergy of the Isle of Man were much alarmed
by the death of the earl of Derby, who dying without issue,
the lordship of Man, as a barony^in Fee, became the pro*
perty of the duke of Athol, who had married the heiress of
a late earf of Derby. This threatened to deprive the
clergy of their subsistence, for the livings df'the Isle of
Man consist of a third of the impropriations, which had
been originally purchased of a former earl of Derby by
bishop Barrow, in the reign of Charles II. ; but now the
duke of Athol claimed the impropriations as an inseparable
appendage of his estate and royalty. The clergy were
now in danger of losing all their property, for the deeds
of conveyance from the earl of Derby to bishop Barrow
N 2
ISO WILSON.
were lost from the records of the island, and the : affair
became every year more difficult, until at length, by the
care and diligence of the bishop and his son, the deeds
were discovered in the Rolls chapel, where they had been
deposited for safe custody. This discovery put an end to
the dispute, and in 1745 the deeds were exemplified under
the great seal of England, and every precaution taken for
the future payment of the money.
In his latter days bishop Wilson formed a plan for trans-
lating the New Testament into the Manks language, but
did not live to make a further progress tban to translate
the four gospels, and print that of St. Matthew. This im-
portant work was completed by his successor (See Hildjes-
X£Y). This seems to have been the last concern of a pub-
lic nature in which he was engaged, beyond the immediate
duties of his bishopric, which he continued to execute to
the latest period of his life, notwithstanding the infirmities
naturally attending bis great age. He had attained his
ninety-third year, when, in consequence of a cold caught
by walking in his garden in very cold weather, after read-
ing evening prayers in his own chapel, he was confined
for a short time to his bed, and expired March 7, 1755.
He was interred in the. church-yard of Kirk-Michael,
almost the wbole population of the island attending the
funeral, and lamenting their loss.
Bishop Wilson's life was an uniform display of the most-
genuine and active benevolence. Considering himself as
the steward, not the proprietor, of the revenues of the
bishopric, he devoted his income to what he esteemed its.
proper use. The annual receipts of the bishopric, as we
have just mentioned, did not exceed 300/. in money; some
necessaries in his house were of course to be paid for in
money; distressed or shipwrecked mariners, and some other
poor objects, it was also requisite to relieve with money ;
bpt the poor of the. island were fed and clothed, and this
bouse in general supplied from his demesnes by exchange,
without money. The poor who could spin or weave, found
the best market at Bishop's-cou'rt, where they bartered the
produce of their labour for corn; Taylors and shoemakers
were kept in the house constantly employed, to make into
garments or shoes that cloth or leather which his corn had
purchased; and the aged and the infirm were supplied
according, to their several wants. At the same time he
fcept aa open hospitable table, covered with the produce of
\
WILSON. 181
his own demesnes, at which he presided with equal affabi-
lity and decorum. His manners, though always consistently
adorned with Christian gravity, were ever gentle and po-
lite ; and in his conversation he was one of the most enter*
taining and agreeable, as well as instructive of men. With
these qualities of the gentleman, the bishop united the ac-
complishments and virtues of the scholar and the divine.
He was well skilled in the Hebrew, Greek, and Latin
languages ; and there was hardly any part of science that
could be serviceable in his diocese which he did not un-
derstand. In his younger days he had a poetical turn, but
afterwards laid aside such amusements, as thinking them
inconsistent with his episcopal character. During the fifty-
eight years that he held the bishopric, he never failed,
unless on occasions of sickness, to expound the scripture,
to preach, or to administer the sacrament, every Sunday,
at one or other of the churches in his diocese, and, if
absent from the island, he always preached at the church
where he resided for the day. He alternately visited the
different parishes of his diocese on Sundays (which the
dimensions of the island will permit in a, carriage) without
giving them notice, and, after doing the duty of the day,
returned home to dinner. His family prayers were as re-
gular as his public duties. Every summer morning at six,
and every winter morning at seven o'clock, his. whole
household attended him in his chapel, where he himself,
or one of those divinity-students whom he maintained in
his house, performed the service of the day ; and in the
evening they did the same. Thus it was that he formed
his young clergy for -the pulpit, and for a graceful delivery.
He was so great a friend to toleration, that the papists who
resided in the island, loved and esteemed him, and not
unfrequently attended his ministrations. Dissenters like*
wise even attended the communion-service, as he admitted
them to receive the sacrament, either standing or sitting,
at their own option, so that there was neither schism nor
separate congregation in his diocese. The few quakers
.also, who were resident on the island, visited and respected
him. Many other amiable, and some singular traits of the
character of this excellent prelate may be seen in the
work from which the above particulars are taken.
His works, consisting of religious tracts, most of which
have been repeatedly printed separately, and extensively
circulated, and of serm6ns, were collected by his son amj
182 WILSON.
m
published in 1780, 2 vols. 4to, and reprinted in 2 handsome
volumes, folio, by the editor, the late Rev. Clement Crutt-
well, who also edited, a few years after, a splendid edition
of the Bible in 3 vols. 4to, with notes by bishop Wilson.1
WILSON (Thomas), D. D. only surviving son of the
preceding, was born Aug. 24, 1703, in the parish of Kirk-
Michael, in the Isle of Man, and after such an institution
there as he must have received under the eve of so ex-
cellent a father, was entered of Christ Church, Oxford,
where he took the degree of M. A. Dec. 16, 1727. On
the 10th of May, 1739, having previously become pos-
sessed of bis mother's jointure, which devolved to hijn on
ber decease, he accumulated the degrees of B. and D. D.
May 10, 1739, when he went out grand compounder. He
was many years senior prebendary of Westminster, and
minister of St. Margaret's there; and rector of St. Ste-
phen's, Walbrook, forty-six years ; in which last he suc-
ceeded Dr. Watson, on the presentation of lord-chancel-
lor Hardwicke. In 1761 was published a pamphlet en-
titled " The Ornaments of Churches considered ;. with a
particular view to the late decoration of the parish church
of St. Margaret, Westminster. To which is subjoined an
appendix, containing the history of the said church, an
account of the altar-piece and stained glass window erected
over it, a state of the ptosecution.it has occasioned, and
other papers," 4to. To the second edition of this pamph-
let was prefixed a view of the inside of St Margaret's
ehurch, with the late excellent speaker, Arthur Onslow,
in bis seat. This pamphlet has been by some ascribed to
a son of Dr. Shebbeare, as published under Dr. Wilson's
inspection. The reason for such conjecture is not given,
and the fact is therefore doubtful. We know of no son of
Dr. Shebbeare's, and at this time Dr. Shebbeare himself
was a well-known writer, and sufficiently practised in de-
ceptions, had any been necessary. Another report is that
the work was chiefly the composition of the late archdea-
con Hole ; Dr. Wilson having borrowed a MS treatise on
the subject written by the archdeacon, and then printed
almost the whole of it, inserting here and there a few
notes, &c. of his own. This assertion is made by an
anonymous writer in the Gent. Mag. for 1786, but who the
late archdeacon Hole was, we have not been able to dia-
' ^Life prefixed to his work*
WILSON. m
jcover ; Mr. William Hole, archdeacon of Sarum, *as then
alive, and died in 1791. Another pamphlet ascribed to
Dr. Wilson was, " A review of the project for building a
new square at Westminster, said to be for the use of West-
minster-school. By a Sufferer. Part I.M 1757, 8vo. The
injury here complained of was the supposed undervaluation
■of the doctor's prebendal house, which was to have made
way for the project alluded to. He was also the supposed
author of a pamphlet entitled u Distilled Liquors the bane
of the nation ;" which recommended him to sir Joseph
Jekyll, 'then master of the rolls, who interested himself in
procuring him his rectory. Even concerning this a doubt
has been suggested, as Dr. Hales printed a pamphlet with
exactly the same title. That elaborate and excellent work
of Dr. Leland's, entitled " A view of the principal Deisti-
cal Writers," was originally addressed in a series of letters,
in the form they now appear, to Dr. Wilson, who finding
that the booksellers would not give the author any adequate
remuneration (50/. only were offered) printed the first
edition at his own risk.
Dr. Wilson died at Alfred House, Bath, April 15, 1784,
in the eighty-first year of his age, and on the 27th was in-
terred, with great funeral pomp, in Walbrook * church ;
where he had in his life-time put up a tablet undated. His
tenacity in the cause he espoused was no less conspicuous
in his opposition to the building of the intended square in
Westminster, than in. his attachment to the noted Mrs.
Macaulay, to whom,' when living, he erected a statue in
bis church, which, with his other marks of high regard for
this lady, created much ridicule. By her second marriage,
however, he was completely cured, and diverted his testa*
mentary remembrances into more proper channels. Dr.
Wilson adopted the modest motto of " Sequitur patrem,
aon passibus sequis," and in his adherence to the turbulent
politics of Wilkes and his party, certainly departed from
his father's example, but in acts of benevolence was by no
means behind him. He often employed the Rev. Clement
Cruttwell, whom we have mentioned as the editor of bishop
Wilson's works, as his almoner, who, among many other
instances of his liberality and prompt attention to the wants
of the distressed, used to relate the following. One day
Dr. Wilson discovered a clergyman at Bath, who he was
told was sick, poor, and bad a numerous fatnily. In the
evening of the same day he gave Mr. Cruttwell a* consi*
184 WILSON.
derable sum, (50/. if we have not forgot) requesting be
woilld deliver it to the clergyman in the most delicate .
manner, and as from an unknown person. Mr. Cruttwetl
said, " I will call upon him early in the morning." — " Yon
will oblige me by calling directly. Think, sir, of what
importance a good night's rest may be to that poor man."
Dr. Wilson had accumulated a very copious historical li-
brary for the use of Mrs. Macaulay, which he bequeathed
to Mr. Cruttwell, along with the copy-right of his father's
works. This curious library, after Mr. Cruttwell's death,
came into the possession of one of his nephews at Bath. '
WINCHELSEA, ANNE. See FINCH.
WINCHESTER (Thomas), a learned English divine,
was the son of a reputable surgeon at Farringdon, in the
county of Berks, where he was born. He was educated at
Magdalen-college, Oxford, as a chorister and demy ; pro-
ceeded M.A. in 1736, B. D. in 1747, and D. D. in 1743.
In July 1747 he was elected fellow, having been for some
years before, as he was afterwards, a considerable tutor in
the cbllege. In 1761 he resigned his fellowship, oh being
presented by the society to the rectory of Appleton, Berk-
shire, at a small distance from his native place ; and in the
same year, June 10, he married Lucretia Townson, sister
of Thomas Townson, rector of Malpas, Cheshire, who had
also been fellow of Magdalen-college. She died at Apple-
ton, greatly esteemed and lamented, Jan. 26, 1772. Five'
years afterwards he married Jennett, widow of his fellow-
collegian, Richard Lluellyn, B. D. and sister of the late
Thomas Lewis, esq. of FrederickVplace, London, one of
the directors of the Bank of England. To the sincere and
lasting regret of all who knew him, he was seized with a
paralytic stroke, which proved fatal May 17, 1780, and
was buried in the chancel of his own church, near the re*
mains, of his wife. His only preferment, besides the rec-
tory of Appleton, was the curacy of Astley-chapel, near
Arbury, Warwickshire, a donative given him by his
esteemed friend sir Roger Newdigate, bart.
" His talents," says his biographer, " if not splendid,
were sound and good, bis attainments various and useful ;
and he was a true son of the Church of England. • He re-
sided constantly on his living ; where by his preaching and
example, he brought to conformity some of the very few
i Butler's life of Hildesley.— Private information.-- Gent. Mag. vol. LVK
WINCHESTER. 185
Is
I ■
dissenters in his parish. He took a most cordial interest in
the temporal and spiritual concerns of his parishioners ; and
having studied anatomy, and being well skilled in medicine,
he was, according to the pattern of the excellent Mr.
Herbert's ' Country Parson,9 physician of the body as well
as the soul, to his flock.'*
Dr. Winchester paid great attention to such controver-
sies in his time as concerned the doctrine and discipline of
the church, and contributed some valuable remarks to con-
temporary writers who were more particularly involved in
these disputes. He also wrote some letters in the Gentle-
man's Magazine on the Confessional controversy, and to-
pics arising from it. The only separate publication from
his pen was published, but without his name, in 1773,
under the title of "A Dissertation on the XVIIth article
of the Church of England ; wherein the sentiments of the
compilers, and other contemporary reformers, on the sub-
ject of the divine decrees, are fully deduced from their
own writings, to which is subjoined a short tract, ascer-
taining the reign and time in which the royal declaration
before the XXXIX articles was first published," This
work was reprinted in 1 803, on occasion of the controversy
being revived by Mr. Overton, " with emendations from
the author' 8 corrected copy, and the addition of a biogra-
phical preface." The latter is written by the rev. arch- .
deacon Churton, and to it we are indebted for the pre-
ceding particulars.1
WINDER (Henry), a learned dissenting divine, was born
May 15, 1693, at Hutton-John, in the parish of Graystock,
in Cumberland, where his father was a farmer. He was edu-
cated in grammatical learning at Penruddock, and in his
fifteenth year began his divinity and philosophy studies at
a dissenting academy at Whitehaven, where he had for his
contemporaries Dr. Rotheram of Kendal, and Mr. John y
Taylor of Norwich, author of the Hebrew- English Concor-
dance. From Whitehaven, Mr. Winder removed to Dub-
lin, where for two years he applied very closely to the
study of divinity under the rev. Mr. Boyse. After passing
the usual examinations, he became a preacher, but re-
turned to England, and in 17 14, when only twenty-two years
of age, succeeded Mr. Edward Rothwell, as pastor of a
congregation at Tunley in Lancashire, and in 1716 was
1 Biog. Preface, aivbove.
1S6 WINDER.
t
ordained. In 1718 be was chosen pastor of the meeting at
Castle-hey in Liverpool, where it appears that he had
jome trouble with his congregation, during certain disputes
on liberty, charity, and the rights of conscience, which he
endeavoured to compose by referring them to the Bible as
the only standard of orthodoxy, not sufficiently adverting
to the fact that this is what all sects profess to do, without
any approach towards harmony of sentiment. In 1740,
when he was on a visit at Glasgow, the degree of D. D.
Was conferred upon him by that university. He continued
to preside over his congregation at Liverpool, with great
approbation, until his death, Aug. 9, 1752. As a testimony
*>f his esteem for his people, he bequeathed his well-
chosen library for the use of his successors. Dr. Winder
is known in the literary world by an ingenious and elaborate
work,. published a second time in 1756, 2 vols. 4to, en-
titled " A critical and chronological History of the Rise,
Progress, Declension, and Revival of Knowledge, chiefly
religious; in two period}, the period of tradition from
Adam to Moses, and the period of Letters from Moses to
Christ.'' To this are prefixed memoirs of his life by the
rev. Dr. George Benson. !
WINDHAM (Joseph), an artist and antiquary of great
taste and talents, was born August 21, 1739, at Twicken-
ham, in the house afterwards the residence of Richard
Owen Cambridge, esq: He was educated at Eton school,
from which he went to Christ's* college, Cambridge, but
took no degree. He returned from an extensive tour
through France, Italy, Istria, and Switzerland, in 1769;
and soon after married the honourable Charlotte De Grey,
sister to the lord Walsingham ; by whom he has left no
issue. In all which is usually comprehended under the
denomination of Belles Lettres, Mr. Windham may claim a
place among the most learned men of his time. To an in-
defatigable-diligence in the pursuit of knowledge, he joined
a judgment clear, penetrating, and unbiassed, and a me-
mory uncommonly retentive and accurate. An ardent love
for truth, a perfect freedom from prejudice, jealousy, and
affectation, an entire readiness to' impart his various and
copious information, united with a singular modesty and
simplicity, marked his conversation and manners. Few
men had a snore critical knowledge of the Greek and Latin
-** Memoirs as above.
WINDHAM. 187
languages, or a deeper feeling for the beauties of style
and sentiment in the classic writers ; but in his minute and
comprehensive acquaintance with every thing in them illus-
trative of human life and manners, especially all that re-
lates to the fine arts, he scarcely had an equal. The his-
tory of art in the middle ages, and every circumstance re-
lative to the revival of literature and the arts, from the
fourteenth century to the present time, were equally fa-
miliar to him ; and his acquaintance with the language of
modern Italy was surpassed by few. He had very particu-
larly studied the antiquities of his own country, and was
eminently skilled in the history of English architecture.
His pencil, as a draftsman from nature, was exquisite. His
portraits of mere natural scenery were peculiarly spirited
and free, and bis drawings of architecture and antiquities
most faithful and elegant. During his residence at Rome^
he studied and measured the remains of ancient architec-
ture there, particularly the baths, with a precision which
would have done honour to the most able professional ar-
chitect. His numerous plans and sections erf them he gave
to Mr. Cameron, and they are engraved in his great work
on the Roman baths. To this work he also furnished a
very considerable and valuable part of the letter-press.
He also drew up the greater portion of the letter-press of
the second volume of the " Ionian Antiquities," published
by the society of Dilettanti ; and Mr. Stuart received ma-
terial assistance from him in the second volume of his
Athens. In his own name he published very little*. His
accuracy of mind rendered it difficult to him to please
himself; and, careless of the' fame of an author, he was
better content that his friends should profit by his labours,
than that the public should know the superiority of his own
acquirements. He had been long a fellow of the Royal
and Antiquarian Societies ; and in the latter, was for many
years of the council, and one of the committee for the
publication of the Cathedrals of England. He more than
• once declined the honourable office of vice-president. Of
the society of Dilettanti he was one of the oldest members;
and to his zeal it was principally owing that the publica-
tions of that society were -continued, after a suspension of
many years.
* We know only of his " Observa- of Diana at Ephesus," printed in the
tions upon a passage in Pliny's Na- Archaeologia, vol. VI. with two plates,
tural History, relative to the Temple
18S , W I N D ff AM.
Mr. Windham died at Earsham-house, Norfolk, Sept. 21,'
1810. In private life, he was the most amiable of rajsn.
Benevolent, generous, cheerful, without caprice, above
envy, his temper was the unclouded sun-shine of virtue
and sense. If his extreme modesty and simplicity of cha-
racter prevented his striking at (he first acquaintance,
every hour endeared him to those who had the happiness of
his intimacy. In every relation of life he was exemplary.
A kind husband, a firm friend, a generous landlord, an
indulgent master. !
WINDHAM (William), a late distinguished statesman,
was descended of an ancient family in Norfolk, and was
born in Golden-square, London, May 3, 1750. His father
was colonel William Windham, of Felbrigg in Norfolk, a
man of versatile talents and an ardent mind. He was the
associate of the wits of his time, the friend and admirer of
Garrick, and the distinguished patron of all manly exer-
cises. In his father's (Ash Windham's) life-time, he had
lived much on the continent, particularly in Spain, and of
bis proficiency in the language of that country, he gave
proof in some printed observations on Smollett's translation
of Don Quixote. At home he had devoted his attention
to the improvement of the militia, of which he became lieu-
tenant-colonel, and was the author of a " Plan of Disci-
pline composed for the use of the militia of the county of
Norfolk," 1760, 4to, which was much esteemed, and ge-
nerally adopted by other corps of the establishment. He
died of a consumptive disorder in the following year, leav-
ing one son, the subject of the present article.
At seven years of age young Mr. Windham was placed at
Eton, where he remained until he was about sixteen, dis-
tinguishing himself by the vivacity and brilliancy of fris
talents. On leaving Eton in 1766, he went to the univer-
sity of Glasgow, where he resided for about a year in the
.house of Dr. Anderson, professor of natural philosophy,
and diligently attended his lectures and those of Dr. Robert
Simson, professor of mathematics. For this study Mr.
Windham had an early predilection, and left behind him
three treatises on mathematical subjects. In Sept. 1767
he was entered a gentleman commoner of University-col-
lege, Oxford, Mr. (afterwards sir Robert) Chambers being
bis tutor. While here he took so little interest in public
V tic*. Ma*. ™l. LXXX.
^INDHA M. 1*5
affairs, that it became the standing joke of one of his con~
temporaries, that " Windham would never know who was
prime minister.9' This disinclination to a political life,
added to a modest diffidence in his own talents, led him
about this period, to reject an offer which, by a youth not
more than twenty years of age, might have been considered
as a splendid one, that of being named secretary to his
father's friend, lord Townshend, who had been appointed
lord-lieutenant of Ireland.
After four years residence, he left Oxford in 1771 ; he
always retained feelings of gratitude towards bis alma
mater y and preserved to the last an intimate acquaintance
and correspondence with some of the most distinguished
T^sident members. He probably took his degree of B. A.
while at college, but did not obtain that of A. M. until
1782, and then by creation, as he did that of LL. D. in
1793 at the installation of the duke of Portland. It is re-
lated that on this occasion, almost the whole assembly rose
from their seats, when he entered the theatre, and received
him with acclamations of applause. Nor was his memory
forgotten at the late installation of lord Grenville ; for in
the recitations made on that occasion, due honours were
paid to the genius, taste, and acquirements of which the
public had recently been deprived.
In 1773, when he was but twenty-three years old, his
love of adventure and his thirst of knowledge, induced
him to accompany his friend, Constantino lord Mulgrave,
in bis voyage towards the North Pole; but he was so ha-
rassed with sea-sickness, that he was under the necessity
of being landed in Norway, and of wholly abandoning his
purpose. His earliest essay as a public speaker was occa-
sioned by a call which was made on the country, for a sub-
scription *in aid of government, to be applied towards car-
rying on the war with our American colonies. A meeting
for this purpose was held at Norwich, and his speech,
which has been preserved by his biographer, though it
must not be compared with later specimens of his elo-
quence, may be allowed to exhibit some proofs of acute-
ness, dexterity, and vigour. He opposed the subscription,
as well as the war itself. Sometime before this he had
entered himself as ai> officer in the western battalion erf
Norfolk militia, and when quartered at Bury in Suffolk,
by his intrepidity and personal exertion, he quelled a dan-
gerous mutiny which had broke out, notwithstanding he
190
W I N D fl A IT.
"was highly beloved by the regiment. Soo\i afterwards, in
consequence of remaining several hours in wet cloaths, he
was seized with a dangerous bilious fever, which nearly
deprived him of his life. In the autumn of that year,
partly with a view of restoring his health, he went abroad,
and spent the two following years in Switzerland and Italy.
Previously to bis leaving England, he was chosen a
member of the Literary club founded by sir Joshua Rey-
nolds and Dr. Johnson,' who had the greatest esteem for
Mr, Windham ; and, notwithstanding his engagements in
consequence of his parliamentary business, and the impor-
tant office* which he filled, he was a very frequent attend*
ant at the meetings of that society, for which he always
expressed the highest value, from 1781 to near the time of
his death/ In 1782 he came into parliament, where he
sat for twenty-eight years, at first for Norwich, and after-
wards for various boroughs ; and he so early distinguished
himself in the House of Commons, that he was selected by
Mr. Burke in 1784 to second his motion for a representa-
tion to his majesty on the state of the nation. He was at
this time in the ranks of the opposition, created by the
appointment of Mr. Pitt to be prime-minister, and may
have been said to be particularly of the school of Burke,
with whom he afterwards thought and acted on many
important occasions. In the preceding year, he had been
appointed principal secretary to the earl of Northing-
ton, then constituted lord-lieutenant of Ireland ; and in
that capacity he visited Dublin in the spring of 1783, and
intended to have accompanied his excellency, when he
afterwards opened the session of parliament there in Oc-
tober*, but being prevented by illness, he relinquished
the office.
* When about to visit that country in
bis official capacity, he called on Dr.
Johnson ; and in the course of con-
versation lamented that be should be
under the necessity of sanctioning
practices of which he could not ap-
prote. «* Don't be afraid, sir," said
the doctor, with a' pleasant smile,
•* you will soon make a very pretty
rascal." — Dr. Johnson m a letter to
Dr. BrockJesby, written at Ashbourne
in 1784, says: " Mr. Wiudbam has
been here to see me — he came, I
think, forty miles out of his way,
and staid about a day aod a half;
perhaps I make the time shorter than
it was. Such conversation I shall not
have again till I come back to the re-
gions of Literature, and there Wind-
ham is inter stellas tuna minor w." Al-
though we have said that illness was
the cause of Mr. Windham's resigna-
tion, his biographer affords some rea-
son to think that it really arose from
the conscientious scruples which Dr.
Johnson thought might soon vanish,
and that it was owing to bis being
dissatisfied with some part of the lord
lieutenant's conduct.
WINDHAM. 1*1
Although from the time of his coming into parliament,
he usually voted with the opposition of that day, he never
was what is called a thorough party- man, frequently de-
viating from those to whom he wa3 in general attached,
when, in matters of importance, his conscience directed
him to take a different course from them ; on which ac-
count his virtues and talents were never rightly appreciated
by persons of that description, who 'frequently on this
ground vainly attempted to undervalue him. After the
rupture between Mr. Fox and Mr. Burke, in consequence
of the French revolution, Mr. Windham attached himself
wholly to the latter, with whom he bad for many years
lived in the closest intimacy; and of whose genius and
virtues he had always the highest admiration. Being with
him thoroughly convinced of the danger then impending
over his country from the measures adopted by certain
classes of Englishmen, in consequence of that tremendous
convulsion, he did not hesitate to unite with the duke of
Portland, lord Spencer, and others, in accepting offices
under the administration in which Mr. Pitt then presided.
On this arrangement Mr. Windham was appointed secre-
tary at war, with a seat in the cabinet, an honourable dis-
tinction which had never before been annexed to that
office. This station he continued to fill with the highest
reputation from that time (1794) till 1801, when he, lord
Spencer, lord Grenville, and Mr. Pitt, resigned their offi-
ces ; and shortly afterwards Mr. Addington (now lord- vis-
count Sid mouth) was appointed chancellor of the exchequer
and first lord of the treasury. On the preliminaries of
peaoe with France being acceded to by that statesman and
his coadjutors, in 1 80 \f[ Mr. Windham made his celebrated
speech in parliament, which was afterwards (April 1802)
published, with an Appendix, containing a character of
the Usurper of the French throne, which will transmit to
posterity the principal passages of his life up to that period,
in the most lively colours. On Mr. Addington being driven
from the helm, in )H0S, principally by the battery of Mr.
Windham's eloquence, a new administration was again
formed by Mr. Pitt, which was dissolved by his death, in
1806; and shortly afterwards, on lord Grenville's accept*
ing the office of first lord of the Treasury, Mr. Windham
was appointed secretary of state for the war department^
which he held till his majesty in the following year thought
it to constitute a new administration. During this period-
192 WINDHAM.
be carried into a law his bill for the limited service of those
who enlist in our regular army ; a measure which will ever
epdear his name to the English soldiery. But it is not our
purpose to detail the particular measures which either
originated from him, or in which he. took a part. This in-
deed would be impossible within any prescribed limits;
and would involve the history of perhaps the whole of the
war. It may suffice to notice that his genius and talents
were universally acknowledged. He was unquestionably
not inferior, in many respects, to the most admired cha-
racters of the age that is just gone by. He bad been in
his earlier years a very diligent student, and was an excel-
lent Greek and Latin scholar. In his latter years, like
Burke and Johnson, he was an excursive reader, but ga-
thered a great variety of knowledge from different books,
arid from occasionally mixing, like them, with very various
classes and descriptions of men. His memory was most
tenacious. In his parliamentary speeches his principal
object always was to convince the understanding by irre-
fragable argument, which he at the same time enlivened
by a profusion of imagery, drawn sometimes from the most
abstruse parts of science, but oftener from the most familiar
objects of common life. But what gave a peculiar lustre
to whatever he urged, was his known and uniform integrity,
and a firm conviction in the breasts of his hearers, that he
always uttered the genuine and disinterested sentiments of
his heart. His language, both in writing and speaking,
was always simple, and he was extremely fond of idiomatic
phrases, which he thought greatly contributed to preserve
the purity of our language. He surveyed every subject of
importance with a philosophic eye, and was thence enabled
to discover and detect latent mischief, concealed under the
plausible appearance of public advantage. Hence all the
clamourers for undefined and imaginary liberty, and all
those who meditate the subversion of the constitution under
the pretext of Reform^ shrunk from his grasp; and persons
!>f this description were his only enemies. But his daunt*
ess intrepidity, and his noble disdain of vulgar popularity,
held up a shield against their «malice ; and no fear of con-
sequences ever drove him from that manly and honourable
course, which the. rectitude and purity of his mind induced
him to pursue. As an orator, he . was simple, elegant,
prompt, and graceful. His. genius was so fertile, and his
reading so extensive, that there were few subjects on which
WINDHAM. 193
fife could not instruct, amuse, and persuade. He was fre-
quently (as has justly been observed) " at once entertain*
itig and abstruse, drawing illustrations promiscuously fronrf
famitiar life, and the recondite parts of science ; nor wa4
it unusual to bear him through three adjoining sentences,
in the first witty, in the second metaphysical, and in the
last scholastic." But bis eloquence derived Its principal
power from the quickness of his apprehension, and the
philosophical profundity of his mind, fn private life nd
man perhaps of any age had a greater nuftiber of zealous
friends and admirers. In addition to his extraordinary ta-
lents and accomplishments, the grace and happiness of his
address and manner gave an irresistible charm to his cori^
versation ; and few, it is believed, of either sex (for his*
address to ladies was inimitably elegant and graceful) evcfr
partook of his society without pleasure atfd admiration, or
quitted it without regret. His brilliant imagination1, his
Various knowledge, his acuteness, his good taste, bis wit;
bis dignity of sentiment, and his gentleness of manner (for7
he never was loud or intemperate) made him Universally
admired and respected. To crown all these virtues and
accomplishments, it may be added, that he fulfilled all the
duties of life, the lesser as Well as the greatest, with the
most scrupulous attention ; and was always particularly ar-
dent in vindicating the cause of oppressed merit. But hitf
best eulogy is the general sentiment of sorrow which agi-
tated every btosom on the sudden and unexpected stroke
which terminated in his death. During the nineteen days
of his sickness, his haH was daily visited by several hundred
successive inquirers concerning the state of his health ; and
that part of Pall Mall in which his house was situated, was
thronged with carriages filled with ladles, whom a similar
anxiety brought to his door. Every morning, and also at a
late hour every evening, when his physicians and surgeons
attended, several apartments in his house were filled with
friends, Who anxiously waited to receive the latest and
most accurate accounts of the progress or abatement of
his disorder. This sympathetic feeling extended almost
through every class, and even reached the throne^ for his
majesty frequently inquired concerning the state of his
health, pronouncing on htm this} high eulogy, that €t hd
was a genuine patriot, and a truly honest man." Of the
fatal malady which put an end to his invaluable life, erro-
neous accounts have been published, but the fact was, that
Vol. XXXII. O
194 WINDHAM.
on the 8th of July. 1809, Mr. Windham, returning on foot
at twelve o'clock at night from the house of a friend, as he
passed by the end of Conduit-street, saw a bouse on fire,
and instantly hastened to the spot, with a view to assist the
sufferers j and soon observed that the house of the Hon*
Mr. Frederic North was not far distant from that which was
then on fire. He therefore immediately undertook to
save his friend's library, which he knew to be very valu-
able. With the most strenuous activity he exerted him-
self for four hours, in the midst of rain and the playing of
the fire-engines, with such effect that, with the assistance
of two or three persons whom he bad selected from the
crowd assembled on this occasion, he saved four parts out
of five of the library ; and before they could empty the
fifth book room, the house took fire. The books were, im-
mediately removed, not to Mr. Windham's house, but to
the houses of the opposite neighbours, who took great car$
of them. In removing some heavy volumes he accidentally
fell, and suffered a slight contusion on his hip, of which,
however, he unfortunately took no notice for some months,
when an indolent encysted tumour was formed, which,
after due consultation, it was judged proper to cut out*
The operation was accordingly performed apparently with
success on May 17, 1810, but soon after unfavourable
symptoms came on, and terminated fatally June 4, to the
unspeakable regret of all who knew him.1
WINDHAM. SeeWYNDHAM.
WILFRID or WINFRID. See BONIFACE, St.
WIN GATE (Edmund), whom Dr. Hutton pronounces
one of the clearest writers on arithmetic, &c. in the Eng-
lish language, was the son of Roger Wingate, esq. of Bor-
nend and Sbarpenhoe, in Bedfordshire, but was born in
Yorkshire in 1593. In 1610 he became a commoner of
Queen's-college, Oxford, and after taking a degree in arts*
removed to Gray's -Inn, London, where he studied the
law. His chief inclination, however, was to the mathe-
matics) which he had studied with much success at college.
In. 1624 he was in France, where he published the scale,
or rule of proportion, which had been invented by Gunter,
and while in that country gave instructions in the English
language to the princess Henrietta Maria, afterwards wife
1 Gent. Mag. vol. LXXX.— Speeches in Parliament; with an excellent account
of Mr. Windham's Life by Thomaa Amyot, esq. 1812, 3 vols. 8vo.
W I N G A T E. 195
of Charles L and to her ladies. After his return to Eng-
land, he became a bencher of Gray's-Inn; and on the
breaking out of the great rebellion, he joined the popular
party, took the covenant, was made justice of the peace
for the county of Bedford, where he resided at Woodend
in the parish of Harlington. His name occurs in the re-
gister of Atnpthill church, as a justice, in 1654, at which
period, according to the republican custom* marriages
were celebrated by the civil magistrate. In 1650 he took
the oath, commonly called the engagement* became inti-
mate with Cromwell, and was chosen into his parliament
for Bedford. He was also appointed one of the commis-
sioners, for that county, to eject from their situations
those loyal clergymen and schoolmasters who were accused
as being scandalous and ignorant He died in Gray's-Inn*
in 1656, and was buried in the parish church of St. An-
drew Holborn.
His works are, 1 . " The use of the proportional Rules
in Arithmetic and Geometry ; also the use of Logarithms
of numbers^ with those of sines and tangents ;" printed in
French, at Paris, 1624, 8vo, and at London, in English,
1626, 1645, and 1658. In this book, Mr. Wingate speaks,
of having been the first who carried the logarithms to
France ; but an edition of Napier's " Description and con-
struction of Logarithms*' was printed at Lyons in 1620, four
years earlier than Wingate' s publication. 2; " Of Natural
and Artificial Arithmetic, or Arithmetic made easy," Lond.
I63CL &vo, which has gone through numerous editions;
the west is that by Mr. Dodson. 3. " Tables of Logarithms
of the signs and tangents of all the degrees and minute^of
the Quadrant; with the use and application of the same,91
ibid. 1633, 8vo, 4. " The Construction and use of Loga-
rithms, with- the resolution of Triangles, &c." 5* " Ludus
Mathetnaticus i or an Explanation of the description, con-
struction, and use of the numerical table of proportion,"
ibid. 1*654, 8vo. 6i " Tacto-meuria, seu Tetagne-nome-
tria, or the' Geometry of regulars* &c."* 8vo. 1. "The
exact Surveyor of Land, &c." 8vo. 8. " An exact abridg-
ment of all the statutes in force and use from the Magna
Chartato 1641," 1655, 8vo, reprinted and continued to
1663, 1680, 1631, and 1684, 0. " The body of the common
* This was probably a republication of John Wy herd's, which appeared un-
der the sasM title in 1650. Wyberd was a physician, and is slightly noticed by
Wood is Atn. Ox. vol. lit
0 2
196 , W I N G A T E.
law pf England," 1655, &c. S*o, 10. "Maxims of rea-
son, of the Reason of the Common Law of England," 1658,
fol. 1 1. " Statu ta Pacis; or, the Table of all. the Statutes
which any way concern the office of a justice of peace,
&c." 12mo. 12. Ad edition of Britton, 1640, 12mo. He
was supposed to be the editor of some other law books,
which show equal judgment and industry, but he is now
remembered only as a mathematician.1
WINKELMAN (Abb6 John), an eminent antiquary,
was born at Stendall, in the old Marche of Brandenbourg,
in the beginning of 1718. He was the son of a shoemaker,
but although to all appearance destined by his birth to su-
perintend a little school in an obscure town in Germany,
he raised himself to the office of president of antiquities in
the Vatican. After having been seven years professor in
the cfollege of Seehausen near Salswedel, he went into
Saxony, where he resided seven years more, and was li-
brarian to count Bunau at Nothenitz. The count was au-
thor of an " History of the Empire," and died 1762, Hia
fine library, valued in 1749 at 15,000 English crowns, baa
been since added to the public library of Dresden. Mr.
Winkelman, in 1748, made a most methodical and inform-
ing catalogue of it, in 4 vols. When he left this place in
1754, he went to Dresden, where he formed an acquaint-
ance with the ablest artists, and particularly with M. Oeser,
an excellent painter, and one of the best draughtsmen of
the age. In that year he abjured Lutberanism, and em-
braced the .Roman catholic religion* In Sept. 1755, he
set out for Italy, and arrived at Rome in December follow-
ing. His principal object was to see the Vatican library,
and to examine the ruins of Herculaneum. While en-
gaged, as he tells us, in teaching some dirty boys their
ABC, he aspired to a knowledge of the beautiful, and
silently meditated on the comparisons of Homer's Greek,
with the Latin literature, and a critical acquaintance with
the respective languages, which were more familiar to him
than they had ever been to any former lover of antiquity,
both by his application in studying them, and bis public
lectures as professor of them. His extensive reading was
improved in the noble and large library which he afterwards
superintended. The solitude and the beauty of the spot
where he lived, and the Platonic reveries which he iiv-
* Ath. Os. voU II.'-*Hutton'f Dictioniry, new edit.
WINKELMAN. 197
ditlged, aH served to prepare the mind for the enthusiasm
whjch he felt at the sight of the master-pieces of art. His
first steps in this career bespoke a man of genius ; but
what a concurrence of circumstances were necessary to
develope bis talents ! The magnificent gallery of paintings
and the cabinet of antiquities at Dresden, the conversation
of artists and amateurs, his journey to Rome, his residence
there, the friendship of Mengs the painter, his residence
in the palace and villa of cardinal Albani, his place of
writer in the Vatican, and that of president of antiquities,
were so many advantages and helps to procure him mate-
rials, and to facilitate to him the use of them for the exe-
cution of the design which be had solely 911 view. Abso-
lute master of his time, be lived in a state of perfect inde-
pendence, which is the true source of genius, contenting
himself with a frugal and regular life, and knowing no
other passions than those which tended to inflame his ardent
pursuit. An active ambition urged him on, though he
affected to conceal it by a stoical indifference. A lively
imagination, joined to an excellent memory, enabled him
to derive great advantages from his study of the works of
the ancients, and a steady indefatigable zeal led him natu-
rally to new discoveries. He kindled in Rome the torch
of sound study of the works of the ancients. His intimate
acquaintance with them enabled him to throw greater cer-
tainty upon his explanations, and even upon his conjec-
tures, and to overthrow many arbitrary principles and an-
cient prejudices. His greatest merit is, to have pointed
out the true source of the study of antiquity, which is the
knowledge of art, to which no writer had before attended.
Mr. Winkelman carried with him into Italy a sense of
beauty and art, which led him instantly to admire the
master- pieces* of the Vatican, and with which he began to
study them. He soon increased his knowledge, and it was
not till after he had thus purified his taste, and entertained
conceptions of ideal beauty, which transported bim to in*
spiration, and led him into the greatest secrets of art, that
he began to think of the explanation of other monuments,
in which his great learning could not fail to distinguish
him. At the same time another immortal scholar treated
the science of antiquity in the same manner on this side
the Alps. Count Caylus had a profound and extensive
knowledge of the arts, was master of the mechanical part,
and drew and engraved in a capital style. Winkelman was
n
198 WINKELMAN,
not endowed with these advantages, but in point of classic
cat erudition surpassed the count; and while the latter
employed himself in excellent explications of little objects,
(he former bad continually before him at Rome the greatest
monuments of ancient art. This erudition enabled him to
fill up his principal plan of writing the " History of Art.
In 1756 be planned bis "Restoration of Ancient Statues,
and a larger work on the " Taste of the Greek Artists ;"
find designed an account of the galleries of Rome and Italy,
beginning witb a volume on the Belvedere statues, in the
manner of Richardson, wbo, he says, only ran over Rome.
In the preface he intended to mention the fate of these
statues at the sacking of Rome in 1527, when the soldiers
made a fire in Raphael's lodge, which spoiled many things.
He also intended a history of the corruption of taste in art,
the restoration of statues, and an illustration of the obscure
points of mythology. All these different essays led bim to
bis " History of Art/9 and bis " Monument! luediti." It
must, however, be confessed, that the first of these works
has not all the clearness and precision that might be ex-
pected in its general plan, and division of its parts and ob-
jects ; but it has enlarged and extended the ideas both of
antiquaries and collectors. The description of the gems
and sulphurs of the Stosch cabinet contributed not a little
to extend Mr. Winkelman's knowledge. Few persons have
bad opportunities of contemplating such vast collections.
The engravings of Lippet and count Caylus are all that
inany can arrive at. Mr. Winkelman's " Monumenti Ine-
diti," of which he had begun the third vol. 1767, seem to
have secured bim the esteem of antiquaries. He there exT
}>lained a number of monuments, and particularly bas re-
iefs till then accounted inexplicable, witb a parade of
learning more in compliance with the Italian fashion than
was necessary. Had he lived, we should have had a work
long wished for, a complete collection of the bas reliefs
discovered from the time of Bartoli to the present, the
greater part of which are in the possession of cardinal AU
banL But however we may regret his tragical end, the
intenseness of his application, and the eagerness of his
pursuit after ancient monuments, had at last so bewildered
him io conjectures, that, from a commentator on the works
of the ancients, he became a kind of seer or prophet.
His warm imagination outran his judgment. As he pro*
ceeded in his knowledge of the characters of art in monu-
W I N K E L M A N. 199
ments, be exhausted his fund of observations drawn from
the ancients, and particularly from the Greeks. He cited
early editions, which are frequently not divided into chap*
ters ; and he was entirely unacquainted with the publica-
tions in the rest of Europe on the arts and antiquity.
Hence his " History of Art" is full of anachronisms.
In one of his letters, dated 1754, he gives an account
of bis change of religion, which too plainly appears to have
been guided by motives of interest, in order to make his
way to Rome, and gain a better livelihood. At Dresden
be published, 1755, " Reflections on the Imitation of the
Works of the Greeks," 4to, translated into French the same
year, and republished 1756, 4to. At Rome he made an
acquaintance with Mengs, first painter to the king of Po-
land, afterwards, in 1761, appointed first painter to the
house of Spain, with an appointment of 80,000 crowns, a
house, and a coach; and he soon got access to the library
of cardinal Passiooei, who is represented as a most catho-
lic and respectable character, who only wanted ambition
to be pope. His catalogue was making by an Italian, and
the work was intended for Winkelman. Giacomelli, canon
of St. Peter, &c. bad published two tragedies of iEschylus
and Sophocles, with an Italian translation and notes, and
was about a new edition of " Chrysostom de Sacerdotio;"
and Winkelman had joined with him in an edition of an
unprinted Greek oration of Libanius, from two MSS. in
the Vatican and Barberini libraries. In 175? he laments
the calamities of his native country, Saxony, which was
then involved in the war between the emperor and the king
of Prussia. In 1758 he meditated a journey over the
kingdom of Naples, which he says could only be done on
foot, and in the habit of a pilgrim, on account of the many
difficulties and dangers, and the total want of horses and
carriages from Viterbo to Pisciota, the ancient Velia. In
1768 we find him inraptured with the idea of a voyage to
Sicily, where he wished to make drawings of the many
beautiful earthen vases collected by the Benedictines at
Catana. At the end of the first volume of his letters, 178 J, .
were first published his remarks on the ancient architec-
ture of the temple of Girgenti. He was going to Naples,
with 100 crowns, part of a pension from the king of Po-
land, for his travelling charges, and thence to Florence,
at the invitation of baron Stosch. * Cardinal. Archinto, se-
cretary of state, employed him to take care of his library.
gOO W. I N K E L M A N>
His " Remarks an Ancient Architecture'' were ready for a
second edition. He was preparing a worjf in Italian, to
fclear up some obscure poiuu in mythology and antiquities*
With above fifty plates ; another in Latin, explanatory of
the Greek medals that are least known ; and be intended
to send to be printed in England " An Essay on the Style
pf Sculpture before Phidias.19 A work in 4to appeared at
£urich, addressed to Mr. Winkeiman, by Mr. Meogs, but
without his name, entitled, •' Thoughts on Beauty and
Taste in Painting/9 and. was published by J, C. Fuesli*
When Cardinal Albani succeeded to the place of librarian
of the Vatican, he endeavoured to get a place for the He*
brew language for Winkeiman, who refused a canonry
because he would not take the tonsure. The elector of
Saxony gave him, 1761, unsolicited, the place of coun-
sellor Richter, the direction of the royal cabinet of medals
and antiquities at Dresden. Upon the death of the abb6
Venuti, 1762, he was appointed president of the anti-
quities of the apostolic chamber, with power over all dip-r
coveries and exportation* of antiquities and pictures. This
is a post of honour, with an income of 160 scudi per an*
hum. He had a prospect of the place of president of an-
tiquities in the Vatican, going to be created at 1 6 scud}
per month, and was named corresponding member of the
academy of inscriptions. He had thoughts of publishing
an f f Essay on the Depravation of Taste in the Arts and
Scienpes." The king of Prussia offered him by Col. Quia-
tus Icilius the place of librarian and director of his cabinet
pf medals and antiquities, void by the death of M. Gautier
de la Croze, with a handsome appointment. He made no
scruple of accepting the offer ; but, when it came to the
pope's ears, he added an appointment out of his own purse,
and kept him at Romp. In April 1768 he left Borne to go
with M. Cavaceppi over Germany and Switzerland. When
he came to Vienna he was so pleased* with the reception he
met with that he made a longer stay there than he had
intended. But, being suddenly seized with a secret unea-
siness, and extraordinary desire to return to Rome, he set
out for Italy, putting off his.visits to his friends in Get*
many to a future opportunity. It was the will of Provi-
dence, however, that this opportunity should never come,
he being assassinated in June of that year, by one Arcan-
geli, of whom, and of his crime, the following narrative
was published :
W1NKELMAN. 201
" Francis Arcangeli was born of mean parents* near the
city of Pistoia, and bred a cook, in which capacity he served
in a respectable family at Vienna, where, having been
guilty of a considerable robbery, he was condemned to
work in fetters for four years, and then to be banished
from all the Austrian dominions, after being sworn never to
return. When three years of his slavery were expired, he
found friends to intercede in his favour, and he was released
from serving the fourth, but strictly enjoined to observe
the order of banishment ; in consequence of which he left
Vienna, and retired to Venice with bis pretended wife,
Eva Rachel. In August 1767, notwithstanding his oath,
be came to Trieste with a view to settle ; but afterwards
phanged his mind, and returned to Venice, where, being
disappointed of the encouragement be probably expected,
be came again to Trieste in May 1768. Being almost de-
stitute of money, and but shabbily dressed, he took up his
lodging at a noted inn (probably with a view of robbing
some traveller). In a few days the abb£ Winkelman ar-
rived at the same inn in his way from Vienna to Rome, and
lyas lodged in the next apartment to that of Arcangeli.
This circumstance, and their dining together at the or-
dinary, first brought them acquainted. .The abb6 ex-
pressed a desire of prosecuting bis journey with all possible
expedition, and Arcangeli was seemingly very assiduofis
in procuring him a passage, which the abb£ took very
kindly 9 and very liberally rewarded him for his services.
0is departure, however, being delayed by the master of
the vessel which was to carry him, Arcangeli was more
than ordinarily diligent in improving every opportunity of
making himself acceptable to the abb£, and their frequent
walks, long and familiar conversations, and the excessive
civility and attention of Arcangeli upon all occasions that
offered, so improved the regard which the abb£ bad begun
to conceive for him, that he not only acquainted him in
the general run of their discourse with the motives and the
event of bis journey to Vienna, the graces he had there
received, and the offers of that ministry ; but informed
hitn also of the letters of credit be had with him, the me-
dals of gold and silver which he bad received from their
imperial majesties, anti, in short, with all the things of
value of which he was possessed.
" Arcangeli expressed an earnest desire to see the me-
dals, and the abh6 an e^uat eagerness to gratify his cu*
f02 WINKELMAN. '
riosity ; but the villain no sooner bebeld the fatal coins,
than- yielding to the motions of his depraved heart, he d£»
termioed treacherously to murder and rob the possessor.
Several days, however, elapsed before he put bis cruel
design into execution, in which time he so officiously and
courteously conformed himself to the temper and situation
of his new friend, that he totally disarmed the abb£ of all
mistrust, and had actually inspired him with a sincere
friendship.
" In the morning of the 7th of June, being determined
no longer to delay his bloody purpose, he bought a sharp
pointed knife, the instrument he intended to use in the
execution, and then going to the coffee-house, be there
found the abbe*, who paid for him as usual, and continued
with him in conversation till they both went home to din*
ner. After dinner they went again abroad together: but
the villain having meditated a new scheme, he parted from
the abbe* and went and purchased some yards of cord, with
which he returned home and retired to his chamber. Till
the abbe came home, he t mployed himself in twisting the
cord and forming a noose ; and having prepared it to his
mind, he placed that and the knife in a chair, ready. Soon
after this the abb£ came in, and, as bis custom was, invited
Arcangeli to supper. The cheerfulness of the abb£, and
the frankness and cordiality with which he received and
treated him, staggered him at first ; and the sentiments of
humanity so far took place, that his blood ran cold with
the thoughts of his cruel intention, nor had be at this time
courage to execute it. But the next morning, June, the
8th, both going out of the inn together, and drinking cof-
fee at the usual house, after Arcangeli had pretended in
vain to hire a vessel to carry the abbe* to Bagni, they re-
tnrned to the inn, and each going into his own room, Ar-
cangeli pulled off his coat (probably to prevent its being
stained with blood) and putting the knife unsheathed, and
the cord into his waistcoat pocket, about nine he went into
Winkelman's chamber, who received him with bis accus-
tomed frankness, and entered into chat about his journey
and about his medals ; and, as he was upon the point of
his departure, be invited the man, who was that instant to
be his murderer, in the most affectionate manner, to Rome,
where he promised him his best assistance. Full of those'
friendly sentiments, the abbe" sat himself down in his chair,
when instantly the assassin, who stood behind him, threw
WINKELMAN. 203
Ac cord over his head and drew it close. The abbe* with
both his hands endeavoured to loosen the cord, but the
murderer with his knife already unsheathed stabbed him in
several places. This increased the struggle, and the last
efforts of the unhappy victim brought both of them to the
ground ; the murderer, however, was uppermost, and hav-
ing his knife still reeking with blood in his hand, plunged
it five times into the bowels of his wounded friend. The
noise of the fall, and the groans of the abbe*, alarmed the
chamberlain of the house, who hastily opening the door,
was witness to the bloody conflict. The assassin, surprised
in the fact, dropped the bloody knife, and in bis waist-
coat only, without a hat, his breast open, and his shirt
covered with blood, he escaped out of the inn.
" With the cord about bis neck, and his wounds stream-
ing, the abbe* had still strength to. rise, and descending
from the second floor to the first, he placed himself against
the balustrade, and called for assistance. Moved with
compassion, those who heard his cries hastened to his
relief, and helping him to his room, laid him upon his
bed, where, having no hope of recovery, he received the
sacraments, and made his will. After suffering a great
deal with heroic constancy, and truly Christian piety, not
complaining of his murderer, but most sincerely pardon*
ing him, he calmly breathed his last about four in the
afternoon.
, " In the mean time the assassin had escaped into the
Venetian territories, where, not thinking himself safe, he
' pursued his way to Pirano, with a design, to embark in
whatever ship was ready to sail, to whatever place; but ex-
presses being every where dispatched with an account of
the murder, and a description of the murderer, he found
himself surrounded with dangers ou all sides. Having
found means, however, to change his cloaths, he quitted
the high road, and passing through forests, and over moun-
tains unknown to him, he at length came to a road that led
to Labiana, and had already reached Planina, when a
drummer, mistaking him for a deserter, caused him to be
apprehended. , Upon bis examination, not being able to
give a satisfactory account of himself, and being threatened
by the magistrates of Aidesperg, he voluntarily confessed
' the murder, apd eight days after committing, the fact, was
brought back to Trieste, heavily ironed, and under a strong
guard. Here he was tried, and being found guilty, as:
*04 WINKELMAN,
well on bis own confession as on the clearest evidence, he
was sentenced by the emperor's judges to be broken on the
wheel opposite to the inn where he had perpetrated the
murder, and his body to be exposed in the usual place of
executions On the 18th of June be was informed of his
sentence, and on the 20th of the same month it was exe-
cuted in ail its points, in the presence of an innumerable
multitude, who flocked from all parts to see the execution."
Some of Winkelman's MSS. got to Vienna, where the
new edition of his u History of Art" was presently adver-
tised. He intended to have got this work translated into
French at Berlin, by M. Toussaint, that it might be printed
under his own inspection at Rome. It was translated by
M. Hubert, so well known in the republic of letters, who
has since published it in 3 vols. 4to, with head and tail-
pieces from designs of M. Ogser. An Italian translation
of it by a literary society has been published at Milan.
Abb£ Wiukelman was a middle-sized man ; he had a
very low fort- head, sharp nose, and little black hollow eyes,
which gave him an aspect rather gloomy than otherwise.
If he had any thing graceful in his physiognomy, it was
his mouth, yet his lips were too prominent ; but, when be
was animated, and in good humour, his features formed an
ensemble that Was pleasing. £ fiery and impetuous dis-
position often threw him into extremes. Naturally enthu-
siastic, he often indulged an extravagant imagination ;
but, as he possessed a strong and solid judgment, he
knew how to give things a just and intrinsic value. In
consequence of this turn of mind, as well as a neglected
education, a cautious reserve was a quality he little knew.
If he was bold in his decisions as an author, he was still
more so in his conversation, and has often made his friends
tremble for his temerity. If ever man knew what friend-
ship was, that man was Mr. Winkelman, who regularly
practised all its duties, and for this reason he could boast
of having friends among persons of every rank and condi-
tion. People of his turn of thinking and acting seldom or
ever indulged suspicions : the abbess fault was a contrary
extreme. The frankness of bis temper led him to speak
bis sentiments on all occasions ; but, being too much ad-
dicted to that species of study which he so assiduously cul-
tivated, he was not always on his guard to repress the sal-
lies of self-love. His picture was drawn half length, sit-
ting, by a German lady born at Kostnitz, but carried when
WINKELMAN. 2<M
»
young inlo Itaij by her father, who was a painter. She -
etched it in a 4to size, and another artist executed it in
mezzotinto. This lady was Angelica Kauffman. The por-
trait is preBxed to the collection of his letters published at
Amsterdam, 1781, 2 vols. 12 mo. Among his correspond-
ents were Mr. Heyne, Munchausen, baron Reidesel (whose
travels into Sicily, translated into English by Dr. Forster,
1773, 8vo, are addressed to him, and inspired him with an
ardent longing to go over that ground), count Bunau, C.
Fuesli, Gesner, P. Usteri, Van Mechlen, the duke de
Rochfoucauh, lord (alias Mr. Wortley) Montague, Mr.
Wiell; and there are added extracts from letters to M. *
Clerisseaux, while be was searching after antiquities in the
South of France ; a list of the principal objects in Rome,
1766, &c; and an abstract of a letter of Fuesli to the
German translators of Webb on the " Beauties of Paint-
tng." '
W1NSLOW (James Benignus), a skilful anatomist who
settled in France, was born in 1669, atOdensee, in Den-
mark, where his father was minister of the place, and in-
tended him for his own profession, but he preferred that of
medicine, which he studied in various universities in Eu-
rope. In 1698 he was at Paris, studying under the cele-
brated Duverney, and here be was induced by the writings
of Bossuet to renounce the protestant religion, a change
which, it is rather singular, happened to his grand-
uncle Stenonius (See Stenonius) by the same influence.
He now settled at Paris, was elected one of the college
of physicians, lecturer at the royal garden, expounder of
the Teutonic language at the royal library, and member
of the academy of sciences. According to Haller, who
bad been his pupil, bis genius was not so remarkable as
his industry, but by dint of assiduity he became an excel-
lent anatomist ; and bis system t>f anatomy, or " Exposi-
tion Anatomique," has long been considered as a work of
the first reputation and utility, and has been translated into
almost ail the European languages, and into English by
Douglas, 1734, 2 vols. 4to. He was also the author of a
great number of anatomical dissertations, some of which
were published separately, but they mostly appeared in
the Memoirs of the French academy. He died in 1760,
at the advanced age of ninety-one.*
1 Prof. Heyoe>s Elage, and Letter*.— Gent. Mag. rots. XXXVIII. and LIV.
drawn ttp by Mr. Gougb. * Eloy, Diet Hist, de Medecioe.— Haller.
206 WINSTANI.EY.
WINSTANLEY (William), originally a barber, was
author of the " Lives of the Poets ;" of " Select Lives of
England's Worthies ;" " Historical Rarities ;" " The Loyal
Marty rology ;" and some single lives ; all in 8vo. Granger
says he is a fantastical writer, and of the lowest class of
biographers : but we are obliged to him for many notices
of persons and things, which are mentioned by no other
writer, which must account for his "England's Worthies'*
being a book still in request ; and, as some of the vampers
think, even worthy of being illustrated by prints. It is
not, however, generally known, that it is necessary to have
both editions of this work; those of 1660 and 1684, in
order to possess the whole of his biographical labours;
Winstanley, who could trim in politics as well as trade,
omitted from the latter all the republican lives, and sub*
stituted others in their room. He flourished in the reigns
of Charles I. II. and James II. and was probably alive at
the publication of his second edition, in which he changed
his dedication, adopting new patrons. In the " Censura
Literaria," voh V, is an account of "The Muses Cabinet,'*
1655, 12mo, containing his original poetry, which is
called in the title-page " both pleasant and profitable;"
but now we are afraid will not be thought either. He was
a great plagiary, and took his character of the English
poets from Phillips's " Theatrum," and much from Fuller
and others, without any acknowledgment. l
WINSTON (Thomas) an eminent physician, was born
in 1575, and educated in Clare-hall, Cambridge, of which
he became fellow. He took the degree of M. A. in 1602,
and then visited the continent for improvement in the
study of physic. He attended the lectures of Fabricius ab
Aquapendente and Prosper Alpinus at Padua, and of Cas-
par Bauhine at Basil, and took the degree of doctor at
Padua. He returned to England, graduated again at Cam"
bridge in 1607, and settled in London; and in 1613 was
admitted a candidate of the college of physicians, and the
next year was made fellow. On the death of Dr. Moun-
sel, professor of physic in Gresham-college, he was chosen
October 25, 1615, to succeed him, and held his professor-
ship till 1642 ; when, by permission of t,he House of Lords,
he went over to France, where he staid about ten years,
' and returned when the troubles were over. He did not
1 Granger.—Ath. Ox~ vol, II. &c.
WINSTON.. 201
live long to enjoy a well acquired fortune ; for be died Oc-
tober 24, 1655, aged eighty. He published nothing in
his life-time ; but after his death, his " Anatomical Lec-
tures9' were printed in 1659, 1664, 8vo, and were sup-
posed the most complete then in the English language. l
WINTERTON (Ralph), an eminent Greek scholar,
was the son of Francis Winterton of Lutterworth in Leices-
tershire, A. M. where he was born. That he was an ex-
cellent Greek scholar appears from many of bis produc-
tions in that language, which entitled him to be a com-
petitor, though an unsuccessful one, in 1627, for the
Greek professorship at Cambridge, on the death of Andrew
Downes, with four other candidates, who alt read solemn
lectures in the schools on a subject appointed them by the
ejectors. He was educated at Kiug's-college, Cambridge,
where he had the misfortune, during the early part of his
residence, to be somewhat disordered in his intellects;
but, recovering, he took to the study of physic, and was
allowed to excel all of that profession in bis time. In 1631
he published the first book of Hippocrates' s Aphorisms in
a Greek metrical version at Cambridge, in quarto, and the
year following the whole 'seven books together, in the same
manner. In 1633, by the advice of Dr. John Collins, re-
gius professor of physic, he published an edition of the
Aphorisms in octavo at Cambridge, with Frere's Latin poe-
tical translation, and his own Greek version, with a Latin
prose translation by John Heurnus of Utrecht. At the
end is annexed a small book of epigrams and poems, com-
posed by the cbiefest wits of both universities, but chiefly
of Cambridge, and of King's-college in particular. In
1631 he printed, in octavo, at Cambridge, a translation of
" Gerard's Meditations,9' which went through six editions
in about nine years. In 4632 he published likewise at
Cambridge, in octavo, Gerard's " Golden Chain of Di-
vine Aphorisms." He published also, for the use of Eton-
school, an edition of " Dionysius de situ Orbis," with
some Greek verses at tbe end of it, addressed to the scho-
lars, and exhorting them to tbe study of geography. This
was reprinted at London in 1668, l2mo. In the above
year (1632), he translated " Drexelius on Eternity," which
was printed at Cambridge. In the preface to this, he has
some sentiments which, shew that he was of a pious but
1 Ward** Lire* of {lie Greiham Profeuor*.
20S WINTERTON.
somewhat singular turn of mind. In 1634, being M. D.
be was nominated by the king his professor of physic for
forty years, if he should live so long. The year following
he published at Cambridge in octavo an edition of the
" Minor Greek Poets/9 with observations upon Hesiod.
This has passed through many editions. His advancement
to the professorship appears to have interrupted his em*
ployment as an author ; but he did not survive that honour
long, dying in the prime of life Sept. 13, 1636. He was
buried at the east end of King's- college chapel, but with-
out any memorial. After bis death was published a trans-
lation by him of Jerome Zanchius's " Whole Duty of the
Christian Religion/9 Lond. 1659, 12 mo. He appears to
have contributed his assistance in the publication of many
Jearned works, which have escaped our research. His
character was that of an industrious and judicious scholar,
an able physician, and a just and upright man. l
WINTLE (Thomas), a learned divine, of whom our
memorial is but scanty, was born at Gloucester 28th April
1737. He was educated chiefly in his native city, and
distinguished by his thirst after knowledge, and his diligent
application to school-exercises. Obtaining an exhibition
at Pembroke-college, Oxford, he there became scholar,
-fellow, and tutor, taking his degree of M. A. in 1759. In
1767, archbishop Seeker made him rector of Wittrisham
in Kent, and called him to be one of his domestic chap-
lains ; and the following year he went to Oxford, and took
his degree of bachelor of divinity. After the death of his
grace, in the following year, he resided at Wittrisham, or
on the small living of St. Peter, in Wallingford ; until, in
1774, relinquishing these preferments, he was presented,
by the late bishop of Winchester, to the rectory of Bright-
well, Berks. At Brightwell he lived constantly forty years,
and at Brightwell he died, July 29, 1814, leaving a wi-
dow, two sons, and one grand -daughter. In early life
Mr. Wintle was unremitting in the attainment of useful
learning, and in the practice of religion and virtue ; and
in his more mature and later years he ceased not, by pre- *
cept and example, to set forth the expediency and advan-
tages of religion, while his fame in the literary world was
not inconsiderable. He published, 1st, "An improved
Version of Daniel attempted, with a Preliminary Disserta-
> Cole's MS Collectanea, in Brit. Mirs. vol. XV.
- > W t N T L E. - ■-* 200
i|oD, and Notes critical, historical, and explanatory/* 2t
cf A Dissertation on the Vision contained in the second,
chapter of Zechariah." 3. " Eight Sermons on the Ex~,
pediency, Prediction, and Accomplishment, of the Chris-;
tjan Redemption, preached at the Bampton Lecture.*9 4.
" Christian Ethics, or Discourses on the Beatitudes, with
some preliminary and subsequent Discourses ; the whole
designed to explain, recommend, or enforce, the Duties
of the Christian Life." 5. " A Letter to the Lord Bishop
of Worcester, occasioned by his Strictures on Archbishop,
Seeker and Bishop Loivth, in his Life of Bishop Warbur-
tpn." The two first of these publications will class Mr.
\Vintle with the most distinguished Biblical scholars, and
tfce Bampton Lectures and Christian Ethics are not less
valuable, as illustrations of the Christian system. '
„ WINTON. See WYNTON.
WINTRINGHAM (Clifton), an eminent physician,
Was the son of Dr. Clifton Wintringham, also a physician,
who died at York, March 12, 1748, and yvas an author of
reputation, but rather of the mechanical school, as appears
\ff his first publication, "Tractatus de Podagra, in quo de
ultimis vasis et liquidis et succo nutritio tractatur," York,
1714, 8vo. In this he assigns, as the causes of the gout, a
certain acrimonious viscosity in the nervous fluid, the rigi-
dity of the fibres, and a straitness in the diameter of the
vessels that are near the joints. His second publication
was entitled *? A Treatise of endemic diseases," ibid. 1718,
8vo, which was followed by his most important publication,
"Commentarium nosolftgicum morbos epidemicos et aeris
yariationes in urbe Eboracensi, locisque vicinis, ab anno
1715 ad anni 1725 fin em grassantes complectens," Lond.
1727, 1733, 8vo. This last edition was edited by his son.
He published also "An experimental inquiry on some parts
of the animal structure," ibid. 1^40, 8vo, and "An inquiry
jnto the exility of the vessels of a human body," ibid.
J 743, 8vo.
His son, the more immediate subject of this brief notice,
was born in 1710, and educated at Trinity college, Cam-
bridge, where be took his degree of bachelor of medicine
Vi U34, and that of doctor in 1749. During the interval
it is not improbable that he studied the art at Leyden, as
jyas usual at that time. He settled however at Londoi),
i Gent, Mag. vol. LXXXIV..
Vol. XXXII. P
219
WlNfitlNGHAM.
• r
where he became a fellow of the college of physicians, atrd
in 1742 of the Royal Society, in 1759 physician extraor-
dinary, and afterwards physiciau general to the army. In
1749 he had been appointed chief physician to the duke
of Cumberland, and in 1762 was nominated physician to
his present majesty, and received the honour of knight-
hood. He attained considerable practice during a very
long life, and was much respected both for his private and
public character. He diedf at Hammersmith, after a linger-
ing illness, Jan. 9, 1794, at the age of eighty-four. In 1774
he had been created a baronet, with remainder to Jarvis
Clifton, esq. second son of sir Jarvis Clifton, bait, of Clif-
ton, Nottinghamshire, who however died before him, and
the title became extinct. By his will, sir Clifton left to
Trinity college, where he had been educated, a small mar-
ble image of Esculapius found near Rome, which was ac-
cordingly deposited there by his widow.
Sir Clifton published an edition, with annotations, of
Mead's " Mouita et precepta medica," and an edition of
his father's works, 1752, 2 vols. 8vo. The only production
from his own pen was entitled u De morbis qtiibusdam
commentarii," 1782 and 1790, 2 vols. *
WINWOOD (Sir Ralph), secretary. of state in the
reign of Jambs I. was son of Mr. Lewis Winwood, some
time secretary to Charles Brandon, duke of Suffolk ; and
wa§ born about 1 565, at Aynho, in Northamptonshire. He
was at first sent to St. John's college, Oxford, whence he
was elected a probationer-fellow of Magdalen college in
1582. He took both the degrees in arts, ami that of ba-
chelor of law; and in 1692, was proctor of the university*
Afterwards he travelled on the continent, and returned a
very accomplished gentleman. In 1599, he attended sir
Henry Neville, ambassador to France, as his secretary;
and, in the absence of sir Henry, was appointed resident
at Paris : whence he was recalled in 1602*3, and sent that
year to the States, of Hollaud by James I. In 1607, he was
knighted ; and the same year appointed ambassador jointly
with sir Richard Spencer to Holland. He was sent there
again in 1609, when he delivered the remonstrance of
James I. against Vorstius (See Vorstius) the Arminian,
to the assembly of the States, to which they seemed to pay
very little attention. Upon this the king proceeded to>
* Eloy, Die*. Hist, dc Medccin*.~-Ni«hoU'» Bowjer.
W I N W O O D. til
threaten them with his pen ; and plainly told them, that
if they had the hardiness to " fetch again from hell anqient
heresies long since dead, &c. he should be constrained to
proceed publicly against them." It is certain that his ma-
jesty wrote a pamphlet against Conr. Vorstius, which was
printed in 1611.
In 1614, Win wood was made secretary of state; in which
toffice he continued till bis death, which happened Oct. 27>
1617. He was interred in the parish church of St Bartho-
lomew the Less, London. Lloyd tells us, that "be was a
gentleman well seen in most affairs! but most expert in
matters of trade and war." But although others acknow-
ledge his abilities and integrity, they add that he was not
sufficiently polished as a courtier, as there was something
harsh and supercilious in his demeanour* He left a son
named Richard, afterwards of Ditton Park in Bucks, who
dying without issue in 1688, his estate went to a son of
Edward earl of Montague, who had married his sister. In
1725, were published at London, in 3 vols, folio, "Me-
morials of Affairs of -State in the Reigns of queen Eliza-
beth and king James I. collected chiefly from the original
papers of the right honourable sir Ralph Winwood, knight,
some time one of the principal secretaries of state. Com-
prehending likewise the negotiations of sir Henry Neville,
sir Charles Cornwallis, sir Dudley Carlton, sir Thomas Ed-
monds, Mr. Trumble, Mr. Cottington, and others, at the
courts of France and Spain, and in Holland, Venice, &c.
wherein the principal transactions of those times are faith-
fully related, and the policies and the intrigues of those
courts at large discovered. The whole digested in an ex-
act series of time. To which are added two tables, one of
the letters, the other of the principal matters. By Ed-
mund Sawyer, esq/' then one of the masters in chancery. \
WIRLEY. See WYRLEY.
WIRZ (John), an artist, whom, Fuseli says, situation,
temper, and perhaps circumstances, have deprived of the
celebrity he deserved, was a native of Zuric, born in 1640,
the son of a canon, and professor of divinity in its college,
and appears to have bad a liberal education. Though,
when a youth, he lost one eye, he was bound to Conrad
Meyer, of whom, with the elements of painting, he ac-
* Gen. Diet.— Biog. Brit. Supplement— Lloyd'* State Worthies .*—Ath. 0*
vol. I. — Granger.
,T2
*
Quired the mystery of etching. As a painter he devoted
himself to- portraiture, which he exercised with success,
•and in a style little inferior and sometimes equal to that of
S. Hofmann ; but the imitation of dormant or insipid counv
tenances, unable ta fill a mind so active and open to im-
pression, in time gave way to composition in art and writ?
ing, both indeed devoted to the most bigoted superstition,
and theologic rancour, for in his Dialogues on the Apoca^
lypsis of S. John, blind zeal, legendary falsehood, and bar-*
•bar ism of style, go hand in hand with shrewdness of obser-
vation, controversial acuteness, and blunt naiveti : a hete-
rogeneous mass, embellished by an etched series of poetic
and historic subjects, in compositions dictated by the most
'.picturesque fancy, original, magnificent, varioas, romantic,
terrible, and fantastic ; though in small, on a scale of ar*
Tangement and combinations to fill the pompous scenery of
Paolo, or challenge the wildest caprice of Salvator; and in
the conception of the Last Judgment, for sublimity far su-
perior to Michael Agnolo. With these prerogatives, and
♦neither insensible to beauty nor form, the artist is often
guilty of ludicrous, nay, even premeditated incorrectness*
and contortions which defy possibility. His style of etch-
ing, free, spirited, and yet regular, resembles that of Wil-
<helm Baur; and though no vestiges remain of his having;
seen Italy, it is difficult to conceive by what other mean*
•he could acquire that air of Italian scenery, and that mi-
nute acquaintance with the architecture, the costume, and
ceremonies, of that country, without baviog visited k him-
self. His dialogues, above mentioned, were published irr
1677, 8vo, entitled UJ. Wirzii Romae animate exemplumr
&c." with 42 plates. Wirz resided and died in 1709, at
a small villa which he possessed near Zuric. !
WISE (Francis), a learned antiquary, and Radcliffe li-
brarian at Oxford, was born in the house of his father
•Francis Wise, a mercer at Oxford, June 3, 1695. He re-
ceived the first part of his education in New college school,
.under the care of Mr. James Badger, a man very eminent
-as a schoolmaster. In January 1710-11 he was admitted
♦a member of Trinity college, and in the summer following
•was elected scholar of that house. He took the degree of
*M. A. in 1717, and about this period was employed by
Mr. Hudson, as an underkeeper or assistant in the Bodleian
l PiJkingtoo by Puieli.
Wi s e. ®n
library, ari admirable school for Mr. Wise, whb bad a tura
for literary history and antiquities. In 1718 he became
probationer, and in the following year actual fellow of his
college. In 1722 he published " Asser Menevensis de re~
bus gestis Alfredi magni," 8vo, very elegantly printed, and
with suitable engravings, &c. The year preceding this,
(1721) the hon. Francis North, afterwards earl of Guild*
ford, entered of Trinity college under the tuition of Mr.
•Wise, for whom be entertained a great esteem through
life. From this nobleman he received the living of Elles-
-field near Oxford, a very small piece of preferment, and
not' worth above 25/. a year at most, but peculiarly agree-
able to our author, who contrived to make it a place of
some importance to curious visitors. / He took a small
estate there, on a long lease, under lord Guildford, and
converted a cottage upon it into an agreeable retirement,
by building one or two good rooms, and laying out a gar-
den with a piece of ground adjoining, scarcely before of
any use, in a very whimsical but pleasing manner. In this
little spot of a few acres, his* visitors were surprised to
meet with ponds, cascades, seats, a triumphal arch, the
tower of Babel, a Druid temple, and an Egyptian pyramid.
These buildings, which were designed to resemble the
structures of antiquity, were erected in exact scale anfl
measure, to give, as far as miniature would permit, a just
idea of the edifice they were intended to represent. From
the time that his illustrious pupil left Oxford, Mr. Wise con-
stantly resided in his family at intervals, and divided his
time between the seat of the Muses, and the elegant man-
sion of his friend and patron. In 1726 he was elected
custos archivorum; and in 1727 took his degree of ba-
chelor of divinity.
In 1738, Mr. Wise published a Letter to Dr. Mead con-
cerning some antiquities ia Berkshire, particularly showing
that the White Horse was a Saxon monument, 4to. This,
pamphlet was answered by an anonymous person (supposed
to be one Asplin, vicar of Banbury) who in his pamphlet,
-entitled "The Impertinence and Imposture of Modern
Antiquaries displayed,'9 insinuated a suspicion that Mr.
Wise was no friend to the family on the throne. This. in-
sinuation gave Mr. Wise great uneasiness, as he then had
in view some preferment from the officers of state (the
.place of Radcliffe Librarian). He therefore drew up in
1742, another ireatise, called "Farther Observations upon)
tU WISE.
the White Horse, &c." and was vindicated also both in his
. political principles and antiquarian conjectures by a friend
(the Rev. Mr. North, F.S.A.) who then concealed his name*
- (See North, George).
In 1745, he was presented by Trinity college to the rec-
4ory of Rotherfield Greys, in the county and diocese of Ox-*
ford; and on May 10, 1748, he was appointed Radcliffe
librarian. In 1750, he published his " Catalogue of the
Coins in the Bodleian library," folio, which be hacj de-
signed, and taken subscriptions for, above twenty years
before, but through the smallness of bis income he was un-
able to bear the expense of engravings, &c. This work be
dedicated to his friend and patron the earl of Guildford,
and in it has given some views of his house and gardens at
Ellesfi'eld. After this period he resided chiefly in this
pleasing retreat, and pursued his researches into antiquity.
In 1758, he printed in 4to, "Some Enquiries concerning
the first inhabitants, learning, and letters of Europe, by a
member of the Society of Antiquaries, London;99 and in
1764, another work in 4to, entitled " History and Chrono-
logy of Fabulous Ages considered" No name is prefixed
to these performances, but at the end of each we have the
initials F. W. R. L. (Francis' Wise, Radcliffe librarian).
These were his last publications. He was after this period
much afflicted with the gout, and lived quite retired at
Ellesfield till his death, which happened Oct. 6, 1767. He
was buried in the churchyard of that place, and by his own
direction, no stone or monument perpetuates bis memory.
In his life-time he bad been a benefactor to the Bodleian
library by supplying from his own collections many de-
ficiencies in the series of their coins ; and after bis death,
his surviving sister, who resided At Oxford, and was his
executrix, generously gave a large and valuable cahinet of
his medals, &c. to the Radcliffe library.1
WISHART (George), one of the first martyrs for the
protestant religion in Scotland, and a person of great dis-
tinction in the ecclesiastical history of that country, was
born in the beginning of the sixteenth century, and appears
to have very early felt the consequences of imbibing the
spirit of the reformers. He was descended of the house of
Pitarrow in the Mearns, an illustrious family in Scotland,
1 Memoirs drawn up by Mr. Huddesfovd of Trinity college, for Dr. Ducarel,
and transcribed from the Doctor's MS Collections, vol. K. now in the possession
•f our obliging friend John Nichols, esq. See also his Literary Anecdote*.
W I S H A R T. SU
snd is said to have travelled into Germany, where be be-
came acquainted with the opinions of Lutber. Other ac-
counts mention his having been banished from his own
country by the bishop of Brechin, for teaching the Greek
Testament in the town of Montrose, and that after this he
resided for some years in the university of Cambridge. Of
this latter circumstance there is no reason to doubt, for
besides an account of him while there by one of his pupils,
printed by Fox, the historian of Bene't or Corpus, Christi
college has inserted a short account of him, as one of the
members of that house. In 1544, be returned to his native
country, in the company of the commissioners who had
been sent to negOciate a treaty with Henry VIIL of Eng-
land. At this time he was allowed to excel all his country-
men in learning, and to be a man of the most persuasive -
eloquence, irreproachable in. life, courteous and affable in
manners. His fervent piety, zeal, and courage, in the
cause of truth, were tempered with uncommon meekness,
modesty, patience, prudence, and charity. With these
qualifications he began to preach in a very bold manner,
against the corruptions of the Romish church, and the vices
of the clergy. He met with a most favourable reception
wherever he appeared, and was much followed and eagerly
listened to, which 90 excited the indignation of cardinal
Beaton, and the popish clergy in general, that a resolution
was formed to take away his life by some means or other*
Two attempts were made to cut him off by assassination ;
but be defeated the first by his courage, and the second,
by his caution. On the first of these attempts he behaved
with. great generosity. A friar named Weighton, who had
undertaken to kill him when he was in Dundee {where he
principally preached), knowing that it was his custom to
remain in the pulpit after sermon, till the church was
empty, skulked at the bottom of the stairs with a dagger in
his right hand under his gown. Wishart (who was remark-
ably quick-sighted), as he came down from the pulpit, ob-
serving the friar's countenance, and his hand with some-
thing in it under his gown, suspected his design, sprung
forward, seized his hand, and wrenched the dagger from
him. At the noise which this scuffle occasioned, a crowd
of people rushed into the church, and would have torn the
friar in pieces ; but Mr. Wishart clasped him in his arms, and
declared that none should touch him but through his body.
"He hath done me no hurt," said he9 "my friends; be
fcath doae me much good ; he hath taught me what I have
to fear, and put me upon my guard." And it appeared
that he defeated the second attempt on his life by the sus-
• piciorr which the first bad inspired. When he was at Morj-
• trose* a messenger came to him with a letter From a country
'•gentleman, acquainting him that he had been suddenly
'' taken ill, and earnestly intreating him to come to him with-
♦ out delay. He immediately set out, accompanied by two
* or three friends, but \vhen they were about half a mile from
' the town, he stopped, saying, " I suspect there is treason
' in this matter. Go you (said he to one of his friends) up
yonder, and tell me what you observe.'* He came back
arid told "him, that he had seen u company of spearmen
lying in ambush near the road. They then returned to the
'town, mrid on the way he said to bis friends; "I know I
shall one day fail by the hands of that blood-thirsty man
' (meaning cardinal Beaton), but I trust it shall not be in
this manner.**
These two plots having miscarried, and Wishart still con-
tinuing to preach with his usual boldness and success, the
cardinal summoned a synod of the clergy to meet Jan. 1 1,
1546, in the Blackfrtars church, Edinburgh, and to con-
sider of means for putting a stop to the progress of heresy,
and while thus employed, he heard that Wishart was in the
J house of Ormiston, only about eight miles from Edinburgh,
where he was seized by treachery, and conducted to the
castle of Edinburgh, and soon after to the castle of St. An-
drew's. Here, being completely in the hands of the car-
dinal, he was put upon his trial March 1, before a convo-
cation of the prelates and clergy assembled for that purpose
' in the cathedral, and treated with the utmost barbarity,
'tevery form of law, justice, or decency, being dispensed
with. He endeavoured to answer' the accusations brought
'against him, and to shew the conformity between the doc-
* trines he had preached and the word of God ; but this was
denied him, and he was condemned to be burnt as an ob-
stinate heretic, which sentence was executed next day on
the castle green. The cardinal seems to have been sensi-
- ble that the minds of men would be much agitated by the
; fate of this amiable sufferer, and even to have apprehended
that some attempt might be made to rescue him from the
• flames. He commanded all the artillery of the castle to be
* pointed towards the scene of execution ; and, either to
; fratch the ebullitions of popular indignation, to display bl&
'W "* * tt 'A R -*. 2*7
Contempt of the reformers, or to satiate himself by contetri-
p luting the destruction of a man, in whose grave he hoped
that their principles would be baried, he openly, with the
prelates who accompanied him, witnessed the melancholy
spectacle. In many accounts which we hare of Wishartfs
* death,- it k mentioned that, looking towards the cardinal,
- he predicted, " that he who, from yonder place (pointing
to the tower where he sat), beholdeth us with such pride,
shall, within a few days, lie in the same as ignominiously
as now he is seen proudly to rest.'9 In our account of Bea-
ton we have noticed the evidence for this fact, and the
opinion of historians upon it, to which may now be added
the opinions of some able writers (noticed in our references)
■ who have appeared since that article was drawn up. Con-
cerning Wishart, Hve may conclude, with Dr. Henry, that
' his death was a loss to his persecutors as well as to his
' friends. If he had lived a few years longer, the reforma-
tion, it is probable, would have been carried on with more
regularity and less devastation. He had acquired an asto-
nishing power over the minds of the people; and he ai-
rways employed it in restraining them from acts of violence,'
inspiring them with love to one another, and with gentle-
ness and humanity to their enemies.1
WISHART, or WISCHEART (George), bishop of
Edinburgh, was born in East Lothian in 1609, and edu-
cated iti the university of Edinburgh; where he took his
degrees, and entered into holy orders. He became minis-
ter of Nortb Leith, but was deposed in 1638, for refusing
to take the covenant, and was also imprisoned for his
loyally. On his release he accompanied the marquis of
Montrose as his chaplain. When the marquis was defeated
by general Lesley in 1645, Wishart was taken prisoner,
and would have suffered death along with several noblemen
end gentlemen whom the covenanters condemned, had not
bis amiable character endeared him to some of the leading
men of the party. He then went abroad, and became
chaplahi to Elizabeth, queen of Bohemia, sister to Charles
I. with whom he came over into England in 1660, to visit
her royal nephew Charles II. Soon after, Mr. Wishart had
the rectory of Newcastle upon Tyhe conferred upon hini;
and upon the restoration of episcopacy in Scotland, was
1 Mackenzie's Scotch Writers. — Buchanan's History. — Spotswood's apd
Koox's Histories. — Henry's Hist. — Cook's Hist, of the Reformation. ~M'Cri^'s
Life of Knox.— Master's Hist, of C.C.UC.
*
SIS W I S H A It T.
consecrated bishop of Edinburgh, June 1, 1662. In that
station he gave a most striking proof of that benevolence
which should ever characterise a real Christian ; for, when
some of the presbyterians who had persecuted him were
committed to prison for rebellion, he assisted them with
every necessary, and procured them a pardon. He died
in .1671, and was buried in the abbey of Holyrqod-bouse,
under a magnificent tomb, with a long Latin inscription.
Keith says, " be was a person of great religion ; and hav-
ing been a prisoner himself, it is reported of him that he
was always careful at each dinner, to send off the first mess
to the prisoners." He wrote the history of the war in
Scotland under the conduct of the marquis ^f Montrose, in
elegant Latin, under the title of " J. G. de rebus auspiciis
aereqissimi et potentissimi Caroli, Dei gratia Mag* Brit,
regis, &c. sub imperio illiistrissimi Montisrosarum mar-
chionis, &c. anno 1644, et duobus sequentibus, praeclare
gestis, commentarius, interprete A. S." This was first
published in 1646, and there have been several English
translations of it from that time to 1720, when it was
printed with a second part, which Keith says the author left
in manuscript.1
WISSING (William), an excellent portrait painter,
was bom at Amsterdam in 1656, and bred up under Do-
daens, an historical painter at the Hague. On coming to
England, he worked some time for sir Peter Lely, whose
manner he successfully imitated, and after whose death he
came into fashion. He painted Charles II. and his queen,
James II. and his queen, and the prince and princess of
Denmark ; and was sent over to Holland, by king James,
to draw the prince and princess of Orange. What recom-
mended him to the esteem of Charles II. was his picture of
the duke of Monmouth, whom he drew several times and
in several attitudes. He drew most of the then court, and
became competitor with sir Godfrey Kneller, whose fame
was at that time increasing every day. It is said that, in
drawing portraits of the fair sex, when any lady came to
sit, whose complexion was rather pale, he would commonly
take her by the hand, and dance about the room till she
became warmer and her colour increased. This painter
died much lamented at Burleigh-house, in Northampton*
1 Keith's Catalogue of the Scotch bishops.— Wood's Fasti, vol. II.— Cens.
lit voL II.
W I S 5 I N G. 219
•hire, Sept. 10, 1687, aged only thirty-one ; And was bu-
ried in St. Martin's church, Stamford, where a marble ta-
blet, with a Latin inscription, was placed by John earl of
Exeter. There is a mezzotinto print of him, under which
are these words, " Gulielmus Wissingus, inter pictorfcs sui
saeculi celeberrimus, nulli secundus, artis suae non exiguum -
decus & ornamentum. — ImmodicU brevis est rotas." '
WITCHELL (George), a good astronomer and ma-
thematician, was born in 1728. He was maternally de-
scended from the celebrated clock and watchmaker, Daniel
Qoare, in which business he was himself brought up, and
was educated in the principles of the Quakers, all his pro-
genitors for many generations having been o&that commu-
nity, whose simplicity of manners he practised through
life. It appears that he cultivated the study of astronomy
at a very early age, as he had a communication on that
subject in the " Gentleman's Diary" for 1741, which must
have been written when he was thirteen years of age. Sooftr
after this bfc became a frequent writer both in the Diaries
and in the Gentleman's Magazine, sometimes under his
own name, but oftener with the initials G. W.^only. la
1764 he published a map, exhibiting the passage of the
moon's shadow over England in the great solar eclipse of
April 1, that year; the exact correspondence of which to
the observations gained him great reputation. In the fol-
lowing year he presented to the commissioners of longi-
tude a plan for calculating the effects of refraction and pa-
rallax, on the moon's distance from the sun or a star, to
facilitate the discovery of the longitude at sea. Having
taught mathematics in London for many years with much
reputation, he was in 1767 elected F. R. S. and appointed
head master of the royal naval academy at Portsmouth,
where he died of a paralytic stroke in 1785, aged fifty- -
seven. *
WITHER (George), a name well known among the
readers of old English poetry, and revived, of late, by the
taste and judgment of some eminent poetical antiquaries
was born at Bentworth, near Alton in Hampshire, June 1 1,
1588. He was the only son of George Wither of Bent-
worth (by Anne Serle), who was the second son of John
Wither of Manydowne near Wottoti St. Lawrence in that
• First edit, of this Diet— Walpole's Anecdotes.— Pilkington.
f tf Alton's Diet, new edit
*20 wither;
county, at which seat Mr. Bigg Wither^ the heir {not the
heir male, but the heir female, who hag taken the name),
still resides. The poet was educated under John Greaves
of Colemore, a celebrated schoolmaster, whom be after-
awards commemorated with gratitude in a poem published
4n 1613. About 1604 he was sent to Magdalen college,
Oxford, under the tuition of John Warner, afterwards
bishop of- Rochester. Here he informs us, in the proe-
raium to his " Abuses stript and whipt," that he found the
4rt of logic, 'to which his studies were directed, first dull
♦and unintelligible ; but at the moment it began all at once
to unfold its mysteries to him, he was called home " to
|*old the plough." He laments that he was thus obliged
to forsake " the Paradise of England" to go " in quest of
care, despair, and discontent."
After he had remained some time in his own country,
certain malicious advisers, under the mask of friendship,
"pretending that nothing was to be got by learning, endea-
voured to persuade his father to put him to some mechanic
trade ; but our poet, finding that country occupations were
v not fitted to his genius, determined, on some slight gleam
of hope, to try his fortune at court, and therefore entered
himself as a member of Lincoln's-inn. The world now
opened upon him in characters so different from his expec-
tations, that, haying been probably educated in puritanical
principles, he felt that disgust which perhaps made him a
satirist for life. The first thing which appeared to fill him
with dislike and anger, was the gross flattery and servility
which seemed necessary to his advancement. If, however,
his manners did not procure him favour with the courtiers,
his talents obtained him the acquaintance and friendship of
many men of genius. William Browne, the pastoral poet,
who was of the Inner Temple, was an early familiar of
his. And some of his verses having got abroad, began to
procure the name of a poet for himself. His " Philarete's
Complaint, &c." formed a part of his " Juvenilia," which
are said to have been his earliest compositions. He also
wrote elegies in 1612 on that general subject of lamenta-
tion, the death of prince Henry.
In 1613 first appeared his celebrated satires, entitled
-*' Abuses stript and whipt," for which so much food was
furnished by the motley and vicious manners of the nation.
Wither, therefore, bursting with indignation at the view of
society which presented itself to his young mind, took this
WITHER. ?f t
Opportunity to indulge in a sort of publication to which
the prosaic taste of the times was well adapted ; but he
disdained, and perhaps felt himself unqualified, to use that
glitter of false ornament, which was now substituted for the
true decorations of the muse. " I have strived," says he,
"to be as plain as a pack-saddle," and in these satires he
is indeed excessively plain, and excessively severe, and
they gave so much offence that he was committed to the
Marshalsea, where he continued several months. In 1615
he published " The Shepherd's Hunting : being certain
eglogues written' during the time of the author's imprison-
ment in the Marshalsea ;" which book, Wood observes, is
said to contain more of poetical fancy than any other of
his writings. Of this interesting poem, sir Egerton Brydges
has lately published a beautiful edition in 12 mo, and in the
preface observes, with a decision which every man of taste
will respect, that " The Shepherd's Hunting has so much
merit, and is so abundant in a natural vein of simple,
effecting, and just sentiment, as well as imagery, that he
who can read it, and doubt the author's genius, is insensible
to all the features which bespeak the gifts of the muse.1*
When in prison, Wither not only also wrote but published bis
u Satire to the King," 1614. He terms this an apology for
former errors, proceeding from the beat of youth, but part
of it is a vindictive appeal to the king from the restraint
put upon his person, and part of it is a ~ monologue con*
ducted by the author between the impulses of supplication
find disdain. It is thought, however, to have procured his
release.
After this time he continued to write and publish both
poetry and prose without intermission to the day of hi§
tteath, which yet was at a great distance. Wood remarks,
with more correctness of judgment and expression than
fee usually attains, that our poet was now cried up, " es-
pecially by the puritan party, for his profuse pouring forth
of English rhyme,9' which abundant facility has certainly
tempted him into an excess that has totally buried the effu-
aions of his happier moments. Such a superfluity of easy
Arat flat and insipid narrative, and trite prosaic remarks,
scarce any writer has been guilty of. On, his pen appears
in general, to have run, wittfout the smallest effort at ex*
cellence ; and therefore subjected him too justly to Wood's
•stigma of being a scribbler. But let it ' be observed, this
eras the fault of his will, ^nd not of his genius; When the
123 W I T H E E.
examples of real poetry, which be has given, are selected
from his multitudiuous rhymes, they are in point both of
quality and quantity sufficient to stamp his fame.
Another cause of the depression of Withers reputation
was the violent party spirit, by which a large portion of his
works was dictated and degraded, as well as the active part
which he took on the side of the parliament. In 1639, he
had been a captain of horse in the expedition against the
Scots, and quarter- roaster-general of his regiment, under
the earl of Arundel. But as soon as the civil wars broke
out in 1642, he sold his estate to raise a troop of horse for
the parliament ; and soon afterwards rose to the rank of
major ; but being taken prisoner by the* royalists, " Sir
John Denham the poet," s^ys Wood, " some of whose es-
tate at Egham, in Surrey, Wither bad got into his clutches,
desired his majesty not to hang him, beeause so long as
Wither lived, Denham would not be accounted the worst
poet in England. About that time,9' continues Wood, "he
was constituted by the Long Parliament a justice of peace
in quorum for Hampshire, Surrey, and Essex, which office
he kept six years, and afterwards was made jby Oliver, ma-
jor-general of all the horse add foot in tbe county of Sur-
rey, in which employment he licked his fingers sufficiently,
gaining thereby a great odium from the generous loyalists/*
At the restoration in 1660, the spoils which he had
amassed from the adherents of the king, and from the
church, were taken from him. His principles, and espe-
cially a libel entitled " Vox vulgi," which be had dispersed,
and which was deemed seditious, rendered bfm obnoxious
to the new government, and he was now committed to
Newgate ; and afterwards, by order of the House of Com*
mons, was sent close prisoner to tbe Tower, to be debarred
of pen, ink, and paper; and about the same time (March
1661-2), an impeachment was ordered to be drawn up.
against him* In this confinement he continued more than
three years, and here he wrote several things by connivance
of the keeper, of which some were afterwards published^
4f yet never," adds Wood, " could refrain from shewing him*
self a presby terian satirist." When he was released is not
Sientioned, but he reached the age of seventy- nine, and
ied May 2, 1667, and was Interred in the Savoy church
in the Strand.
That Wither was a poet, and a poet deserving to be bet-
ter known, has been sufficiently proved by the selection
WITHER **S
from his "Juvenilis," printed by the late Alexander Dal-
jymple, esq. in 17,85, and particularly by the more recent
republications of bis " Shepherd's Hunting/9 1814, his
"Fidelia," 1815, and his "Hymns and Songs of the
Church/' 1815, by sir Egerton Brydges, whose prefaces
and remarks add no small value to these beautiful volumes,
and whose judgment and taste in the revival of works, of
neglected merit cannot be too highly appreciated. It is to
tfais'learned baronet also that the reader is indebted for all
that is valuable in the present sketch of Wither, taken from
a more copious life of the poet in the " Bibliographer." In
the same work, the reader may be referred to a very accu-
rate list, and history, by Mr. Park, of all Wither' s writings,
amounting to 112 articles in prose and verse, from which
very pleasing selections may yet be made. They are almost
all of rare occurrence, and expensive in proportion, since
the attention of the public has been drawn to them by the
various critics mentioned in our references.1
WITHERING (William), an able physician and bota-
nist, was born in 1741, at Willi ngton in Shropshire, where
his father was an apothecary. After being initiated in phar-
macy and medicine under his father, he was sent to the
university of Edinburgh, where be studied the usual time,
and took the degree of doctor of physic in 1766. Not long
after he left the university, he settled at Stafford, where
meeting with little encouragement, he removed in 1774 to
Birmingham ; and here his abilities were soon called into
action ; and in a few years his practice became very extensive,
and having a studious turn, he devoted those hours which
remained after the business of the day, to philosophical
and scientific pursuits. In 1776 he published, in 2 vols.
8vo, the first edition of his " Botanical Arrangement ;" a
work which, at that tiipe, could be considered as little more
than a mere translation from Linnaeus of such genera and
species of plants as are indigenous ia Great Britain ; and in
which Ray's " Synopsis Methodica Stirptum Britannica*
rum," and Hudson's " Flora Anglica," could not fail to
aflbrd him great assistance ; but, in the course of the two
other editions of it (the last of which, in 4 .vols. 8vo, was
published in 1796), this "Arrangement" has been so much
improved and enlarged, as to have become, in a great mea-
1 Ajtb. Ox. vol. IF.— Bibliographer, vol. I. .and II. — Censura Literaria. — Res-
tituU, vol. I.— Life of Wither, Gent. Mag. vol LXX. by Mr. Gilchrist, one of
the first who discerned the merits of Wither.
2*4 W 1 T H t R i N G.
sure, an original work; and certainly, as a national Flord^
it must be allowed to be & very elaborate and complete*
performance. Botany, however, did not engross all our.
author's attention : many of bis. leisure hours he devoted*
to* chemistry and .mineralogy. In 1783, )pe translated
Bergman's " Sckagraphia Regni Mineralis," under thei
title of " Outlines of Mineralogy ;" and, before and since
that time, he addressed to the Royal Society several com-*
uiqnications relative to those branches of knowledge. Thqs*
in 1773, we 6nd inserted in the Philosophical Transactions,
his experiments on different kinds of marie found in Staf-
fordshire. In the same Transactions for 1782, his analysis,
qf the toad-stone, a fossil met with in Derbyshire. In the
$ame work for 1784, bis experiment on the Urra ponderosa.
And lastly, in 1798* his analysis of a hot mineral spring in>
Portugal. Amidst these diverged pursuits he did not re?
lax in his professional studies, In 1779, be published an
" Account of the Scarlet Fever and Sore Throat ;" and, ir*
1785, appeared his account of the fox-glove; wherein he
laid before the public a very satisfactory body of evidence;
in favour of the diuretic virtues of » this vegetable in various
kinds of dropsies. From early life Dr. Withering was of a
slender and delicate habit of body ; and, not long, after trig
first establishment in practice, he became subject to attacks
of peripneumony. By these repeated attacks bis lungs
were at length so much injured, and his whole frame so
much debilitated, that he found it necessary to repair to 3
warmer climate. Accordingly, in the autumn of 1793, he
made a voyage to Lisbon., where he passed the winter, re-
turning to England the following spring. Thinking be
had received benefit from the climate of Portugal, he made
a second voyage to Lisbon the following winter, and re-
turned home again 1795. While be was in Portugal, he
analyzed the hot mineral waters, called the Caldas. This
analysis was published in the Memoirs of the royal academy
of sciences at Lisbon ; and since in the Philosophical Tran-
sactions of the Royal Society in London. After his return
from bis last voyage to Lisbon, his health remained in a
very fluctuating state, sometimes so tolerable as to allow
going out in a carriage; at other times, so bad as to con?
fine him to his room* In this manner his existence was
protracted until Sept. 1799, when be removed from Edg*
baston-hall, where he had resided (under a lease granted
by the late lord Calthorpe) for several years, to a house^
WITHERING. 225
which he had recently purchased, and bad Darned tb*
Larches, and where be died Oct. 6, 1799, To the distin-
guished rank which he held in the medical profession, Dr.
Withering was raised wholly by personal merit. He pos*
sessed great clearness of discernment, joined with a most
persevering application. He was of a humane and mild
disposition. With his family and among bis friends he was
cheerful and communicative; but with the world at large v
and even in his professional character, he was shy and re*
served.1
WITHERSPOON (John), an eminent divine in Scot-
land and America, and a lineal descendant from Knox the
celebrated Scotch reformer, was born Feb. 5, 1722, at
Yester near Edinburgh, of which parish bis father was
minister. After some previous education at the public
school at Haddington, he was, at the age of fourteen, sent
to the university of Edinburgh, and having gone through
the usual course of academical studies, was licensed to
preach, and soon after was ordained minister of the parish
of Beith, in the west of Scotland, whence, in a few years*
he was removed to be minister at the large and flourish*
ing town of Paisley. During his residence here he was
much admired for his general learning, his abilities in the
pulpit, and for his writings, one of which, bis " Ecclesias*
tical Characteristics," is perhaps one of the most humorous
satires ever written on a subject which apparently did not
admit of that mode of treatment. No satire in our time
was read with more approbation and interest than Wither-
spoon's <( Characteristics" for many years in Scotland. It
is levelled at the party iu the general assembly of Scotland,
who were called the moderate men, in contradistinction to
those called the orthodox, or who adhered strictly to the
doctrines contained in their national " Confession of Faith.9'
From this publication, and from his speeches in the general
assembly, Witherspoon acquired much influence* but he
had to contend with almost all the literary force of the as-
sembly, the Blairs, Gerards, Campbells, and Robertsons,
who were considered as the leaders of the moderate party.
One day, after carrying some important questions against
t)r. Robertson, the latter said in his pleasant manner, " I
think you have your men better disciplined than formerly."
** Yes," replied Witherspoon, " by urging your politics too
1 Gcnfc. Mag* .vol. L3tlX.
Vol. XXXIL Q*
226 ^VITHERSPOON.
fa**, you have compelled us to beat you with your own
weapons.1*
During Dr. Witherspoon's residence at Paisley, he had
eligible offers from Dublin, from Dundee, and from Rot-
terdam, which he rejected, but at length his reputation
having reached that continent, he was induced to accept an
offer from America, and on his arrival at Prince-town hi
1768, was appointed president of the college there, the
prosperity of which was greatly augmented under hi* ad-
ministration, not only with respect to its funds and the
number of students, but from his introducing every im-
provement in education and science, which had been
adopted in Europe. When the revolutionary war was ap-
proaching, he became a decided friend to the cause of
America, and was for seven years a member of the congress.
After the peace he paid a visit to England, and returning
soon after to Prince-town, died there Nov. 15, 1794, in
his seventy-third year. His printed works, very superior
in point of style and manner, consist of " Essays" in 3 vols.
8vo, on theological topics, and two volumes of " Sermons,'*
besides the " Characteristics," already noticed, and a work
" On the nature and effects of the Stage," which at one
time made a great noise. Bishop Warburton mentions
" The Characteristics'1 with particular approbation.1 .
-"WITSIUS, or WITS (Herman), a very learned and
eminent divine of North Holland, was born at Enckhuisen,
Feb. 12, 1636. He was trained to the study of divinity,
and so distinguished himself by his uncommon abilities and
learning, that he was chosen theological professor, first at
Franeker, afterwards at Utrecht, and lastly at Ley den. He
applied himself successfully to the study of the Oriental
tongues, and was not ignorant in any branch of learning
which is necessary to form a good divine. He died Oct.
22, 1708, in the seventy-third year of his age, after having
published several important works, which shew great judg-
ment, learning, and piety. One of the principal of these
is " Egyptiaca ;" the best edition of which, at Amsterdam,
1696, in 4to, has this title : "^Egyptiaca, et Decaphylon ;
sive, de jEgvptiacorum Sacrorum cum Hebraicis collation©
Libri tres. Et de decern tribubus Israelis Liber singularia.
Accessit Diatribe de Legione Fulminatrice Christianoriim,
sub Imperatore Marco Aurello Antorrino," Amst. 1693, and
/ ' Funeral Sermpn by Dr. Rodgers, in Prot. Diss. Mag. vol. U.
W I T S I U S. fl«»
IB96, 4to. Witsius, in this work, not only compares the
religious rites and ceremonies of the Jews and Egyptian's*
but he maintains particularly, against our sirJqhn Marshatn
and Dr. Spencer, that the former did not borrow theirs*
or any part of them, from the latter, as these learned and
eminent writers -had asserted in their respective works*
" Canon Cbronicus," and " De Legibus Hebraeorunu'*
" The Oeconomy of the Covenants between God and Man'*
is another work of Witsius, and the best known in this coun-
try, having been often printed in English, 3 vols. 5vo. Of
this and its author, Hervey, in his " Theron and Aspasia,'*
has taken occasion to speak in the following terms : "Toe
Oeconomy of the Covenants," says be, " is a body of di+
finity, in its method so well digested, in its doctrine so
truly evangelical, and, what is not very usual with our
systematic writers, in its language so refined and elegant*
in its manner so affectionate and animating, that I would
recommend it to every student in divinity. I would not
scrapie to risk all my reputation upon the merits of this
performance ; and I cannot but lament it, as one of my
greatest losses, that I was no sooner acquainted with this
fnost excellent author, all whose works have such a deli-
cacy of composition, and such a sweet savour of holiness*
that I know not any comparison more proper to represent
their true character than the golden pot which had manna,*
and was outwardly bright with burnished gold, inwardly
rich with heavenly food." '
WITT. See DE WITT,
WITTE DE. See CANDIDO.
WITTE, or WITTEN (H&nningUs), a German bio-
grapher, was born in 1634. We find very few particulars
*f him, although he has contributed so much to our know*-
ledge of other eminent men. He was a divine and pro-
fessor of divinity at Riga* where he died Jan. 22, 1696.
Morhoff bestows considerable praise on his biographical la-
bours, which were principally five volumes of memoirs of
the celebrated men of the seventeenth century, as a sequel
to those of M elchior Adam. They were octavo volumes,
and published under the titles of " Memoria Theologorum
nostri seculi," Franc. 1674, reprinted in 1685, 2 vols. ;
" Memoria Medicorum ;" " Memoria Jurisconsultorum ;"
1 Life prefixed to the " Oeconomy of the Covenants," edit. *?62«— Burman
Traject. Enidit.—Saxii OnomMticon.
Q 2
228 W I T T E.
u Memoria Philosophorum," &c. which last includes poet*
and polite scholars. The whole consist of original lives, or
eloges collected from the best authorities. The greater
part ave Germans, but there are a few French and English.
In 1688 he published, what we have often found very use-
ful, his *' Diarium Biographicum Sc pip to rum seculi xvii."
vol. I. 4to, 1688, vol, II. 1691. It appears that Wittepaid
a visit to England in 1666, and became acquainted with
the celebrated Dr. Pocock, to whom he sent a letter ten
years afterwards, informing the doctor that he had for some
time been engaged in a design of writing the lives of (he
most famous writers of that age in each branch of litei a*
ture, and had already published some decades, containing
memoirs of divines, civilians, and physicians; "that he
, was now collecting eloges on the most illustrious philolo*
gers, historians,, orators, and philosophers ; but wanted me-
moirs of the chief Englishmen who, in the present (seven*
teeuth) century, have cultivated these sciences* having no
relation of this sort in his possession, except of Mr. Cam-
den ; he begs, therefore, that Dr. Pocock, would, by the
bearer, transmit to him whatever he had to communicate
in this way." * '
WODHULL (Michael), the first translator into English
verse of all the tragedies and fragments qf Euripides which
are extant, was born Aug. 15, 1740, at Then ford, in Nor*
tbamptoushire, and was sent first to Twyford, in Bucking.*
hamshire, to the school of the rev. William Cleaver. This
preceptor bad three sons, William, bishop of St. Asaph,
Eusebius, archbishop of Dublin, and John, student of
Christ Church, Oxford, who were all attached to Mr. Wod-
hull with the sincerest friendship through life. To John,
one of his poetical epistles (the ninth) is addressed, in which
honourable mention is made of the father*
" Beneath whose auspices his earlier age
Imbibed the dictates of the good and sage."
Frbm Twyford he was removed to Winchester school,
and afterwards to Brasennose college, Oxford. He in-
herited from his father, who died while he was at school,,
a large fortune, of which the first use that he made was to
build a handsome mansion on his patrimonial inheritance.
In 1761 he married a lady of great personal accomplish -
pients, and universally loved and respected, MissCathe*
1 Baillet Jugemem.— Morhoff Poly hist. — Saxii Oootnast.
W 0 D H U L L. 229
rine Mileah Ingram, of an ancient family situated at Wol*
ford, in Warwickshire, who left him a widower without
family in 1808. In 1803 be took advantage of the short
peace to gratify his curiosity in the libraries of Paris, and
was one- of the English detained by Bonaparte, but was
afterward released on account of his age. He returned
home an invalid and alone, and it was a source of great
distress to him to be compelled to leave behind him in
France his faithful servant. From that period bis bodily
infirmities gradually increased, his sight at length failed,
and his voice became scarcely audible, but his senses apd
bis memory, which was most singularly retentive, con-
tinued unimpaired to the last. He died without a struggle
or groan, Nov. 10, 1816, in the seventy-seventh year of
his age.
Of his politics, Mr. Wodhull say* they were " those of a
British whig, not run away with by national prejudices;1'
but he never entered into public life ; his chief occupation
and amusement being the study of books, of which he was
celebrated as a collector. He disposed during bis life of
many which he had purchased, but left behind him above
4000 volumes, consisting principally of first editions and
rare specimens of early printing. The duties of private
and social life no man discharged with more fidelity or ex-
actness. As a son, a husband, a friend, a master,, a land-
lord, few could excel him, and his charities, which were
numerous, were known generally to those only whom he
benefited.
. As to his religious sentiments, although he was an advo-
cate for toleration, he invariably asserted the principle of
conformity to the sound and apostolic establishments of
the land. His practice, even when very infirm, was to
attend divine service in his parish church, to read or pro-
cure some friend to read a sermon and prayers to his family
and domestics every Sunday evening. He never spoke an
unkind word to his servants, and there was hardly an instance
known of any one quitting his service for that of another
master. He never complained, nor uttered a peevish ex-
pression under the greatest privations and the most severe
pain. His funeral was, by his own desire, as his life had
been, without parade or ostentation, and the monumental
stone declares no more than the name ' and age of him
whose mortal reliques lie near it.
The first edition of Mr. Wodhull's translation of " Euri-
?3o W0PBU1I,
pides" appeared in 1782, 4 rob. Svo, since reprinted in 3
yob. 8vo. Whoever considers the number of dramas com*
posed by tbe Greek tragedian, the variety of allusions which
they contain to ancient manners, and to the tenet* of phiT
losophers ; and. the peculiar force of the language in which
they were written, will acknowledge that the attempt to
render them into English verse must have failed altogether
without a rare union of perseverance, knowledge, and abi?
lity. Original composition is the surest test of genius, but
the poetiqal images and ideas of one man cannot adequately
5>e represented or expressed by another who does not him-
self possess the imagination and fancy of a poet, In his
translation of Euripides, Mr, Wodhull has selected blank
verse as the best adapted for tbe dialogue, and hy rendered
the cborusses for tbe most part in a Pindaric ode. The
difference therefore both of tbe subject and versification is
sijch that no comparison can fairly be instituted with the
poetical versions of the iEneid and tbe Iliad. Bu^ as Dry-
flen and Pope have secured to theroselyes a^bigb rank in
tbe U*t of British Classics by their translations, an honour-r
able post will, also be assigned to Mr. Wodhull, who has
contributed no mean addition to tbe stock of British Lite*
rature, and naturalized among us him, whom he entitles
"The Philosophic Bard."
Mr.Wodhull's poetical fame, however, does not rest
merely on translations ; be was the author of several poems
published at different periods, which he collected in 1804,
and printed with several alterations for tbe use of bis friends
in an elegant octavo volume, to which his portrait was pre-
fixed. The poems consist of five odes, two songs, "Tbe
Equality of Af ankind ;" " On Mr. hollis's print of Dr. May-
hew;1' "The Use of Poetry,9' and thirteen epistles ad*
pressed to different friends. When a Very young man he
wrote an *' Ode to Criticism," which is not found in this
collection* It was intended as an attack on certain pecu-
liarities in the writings of Thomas Warton. Warton took
a singular mode of avenging himself, by inserting tbe ode
in "The Oxford Sausage" among poems of a very diffe*
rent sort. This proceeding may perhaps be considered as
a proof of humour in the laureate; but it is to be regretted
(hat it has been the means of perpetuating a composition
which its author would long ago have consigned to oblivion.'
1 Private eommufiiaitioiu
WODROW. *31
WODROW (Robert), a Scotch ecclesiastical historiap,
son to the rev. James Wodrow, professor of divinity in the
university of Glasgow, was born there in 1679, and after
passing through his academic course, was chosen in 1698
librarian to the university. H^ held this office for four
years, during which he had many valuable opportunities for
indulging his taste in the history and antiquities of the
church of Scotland, In 1703 be was ordained minister of
the parish of Eastwood, in which humble station he con-
tinued all his life, although he had encouraging offers of
greater preferment in Glasgow and Stirling. He died in
1734, at the age of fifty-five. He* published in 1721, in
2 vols, folio, a " History of the singular sufferings of the
Church' of Scotland, during the twenty-eight years imme-
diately preceding the Revolution," written with a fidelity
which has seldom been disputed, and confirmed, at the end
of each volume, by a large mass of public and private re*
cords. In England this work has been little known, ex-
cept perhaps by an abridgment in 2 vols. 8vo. by the Rev.
.Mr. Cruickshanks, but since the publication of the histori-
cal work of the Hon. Charles James Fox, as well as by the
writings of Messrs. Sommerville and Laing, it has greatly
risen in reputation as well as price. " No historical facts,"
Mr. Fox says, " are better ascertained than the accounts
which are to be found in Wodrow. In every instance
where there has been an opportunity of comparing these
accounts with the records arid authentic monuments, they
appear to be quite correct." Mr. Wodrow also left a great
many biographical memoirs of the Scotch reformers and
presbyterian divines, which are preserved in the university
library of Glasgow. l
WOIDE (Charles Godfrey), a name worthy to be pre-
served on account of his valuable edition of the Alexandrine
MS. of the New Testament, was a native of Holland, but
of his early history we have no account. His first prefer-
ment in this country was to the preachership of the Dutch
chapel-royal at St. James's, about 1770, to which be was
afterwards appointed reader also. At the time of bis death
he was reader and chaplain at the Dutch chapel in the Sa-
voy. In 1778 he was elected a fellow of the society of an-
tiquaries, and in that year distinguished himself by revising,
through the Clarendon presf, Scholtz's " Egyptian Gram-
1 Encyclop. Britannic*, last edition.
I,
bit WOID £.
mar," written in 1750, in 2 vols. 4to, and also La Croze's*
*' Lexicon Egyptiaco-Latinum." It had long been the
Wish of thelearned that both these works, left in MS! by
their respective authors, might be published, but they could
not find a printer furnished with Egyptian types, or who
would hazard the undertaking, until at last the university
Of Oxford, with its usual munificent spirit, determined to
bear the expense. When the Lexicon was printing, Mr.
Woide was desired to make some additions to it, but this
not being proposed till more than half the'wbrk was printed,1
he could extend his remarks to three letters only, and to
render the undertaking more useful, he added an index.
It was intended to print Scholtz's Grammar in 2 quarto
vols, immediately after the Dictionary, which consists of
one vol. quarto; but it being found too voluminous, Woide
very properly abridged it, and has improved it by carefully
examining and correcting it by means of MSS unknown to
Scholtz. The Sahidic part was entirely supplied by Dr.
Woide.
In 1782 Dr. Woide was appointed an assistant librarian
at the British Museum, at first in the department of natu-
ral history, but soon after in one more congenial to his
studies, that of printed books. He had before obtained
the degree of D. D. from the university of Copenhagen,
and in 1786 was created doctor of laws at Oxford. In this
year appeared his truly valuable work, the " Novum Tes-
iamentum Grascum, e codice MS. Alexandrino, qui Lon-
dini in Bib}. Musei Britannici asservatur, &c. Ex prelo
Joannis Nichols, Typis Jacksonianis," fol. The history
<|f this MS. thus preserved and perpetuated by an accurate
fac-simile, is contained in the editor's learned preface, which
was reprinted at Leipsic in 1790, in an octavo volume) with
notes by Gottliebb Leberecht Spohn. Dr. Woide was
seized with an apoplectic fit, May 6, 1790, while at sir
Joseph Banks's converxatione, of which he died next day at
his apartments in the British Museum. '
WOLFE, or WOLFIUS, (Christian), baron of the Ro-
man empire, privy-counsellor to the king of Prussia, and
chancellor of the university of Hall in Saxony, was born at
Breslau, Jan. 24, 1679. To the college of this city he was
indebted for his first studies: after having passed his les-
sons in philosophy, be applied himself, assiduously to the
1 Nichols's Bowyer, vol. IX.
WOLFE. 8S3
mathematics. The " Elementa Arithmetics, vulgaris et
literalis," by Henry Horcb, were his earliest guides;, by a
frequent perusal of these, he was at length enabled to en*
rich them with additional propositions of his own. So ra-
pid a progress did him great hqnour ; whilst the different'
disputes, in which be was engaged with the canons of Bres-
lau, laid the permanent foundation of his increasing fame.
In 1699, he repaired to the university of Jena, and chose
John Philip Treuner for his master in philosophy, and
George Albert Hamberger for the mathematics; whose
lessons he received with so happy a mixture of attention
and advantage, that he became afterwards the able instruc-
tor of his fellow-students. . .
. From Philip Muller, and Frederic Beckman, be re-
ceived his knowledge of theology : a treatise written by
Tschirnhausen, entitled " Medicina Mentis & Corporis,9'
engaged him for some time ; in consequence of which, in
1702, he bad a conference with the author, to clear up
some doubts concerning particular passages. The. detail
into which Tschirnhausen had the complaisance to enter
with this young philosopher, enabled him to model the
whole on a more extensive plan. Having finished that part
of his education which he was destined to receive at Jena, '
|?e went to Leipsic in 1702 ; and, having obtained a per-*
mission to give lectures, he began his new employment,
and, in 1703, opened with a dissertation called "Pbiloso-
phia practjca universalis, methodo mathematica conscript
ta ;" which first attempt served greatly to enhance the re-
putation of his talents. Wolfe chose, for the foundation
of his lessons, the method followed by Tschirnhausen. His
philosophy bore as yet a very strong resemblance to that of
Descartes, as may be seen in his dissertation " De loquela,"
which he published in 1703. Leibnitz, to whom be sent
it, told him, that he plainly perceived, that his hypothesis
concerning the union of the soul and body was not hitherto
sufficiently just and explicit. These objections made him
review the whole, which afterwards went through several
material alterations.
Two dissertations which he published at the end of 1703,
the first, " De rotis dentatis," and the second, " De Al-
goritbmo. infinitesimal differential]," obtained him the
honourable appellation of assistant to the faculty of philo-
sophy at Leipsic The universities of Giessen and Hall
having invited him to be their professor in mathematics,
134 WOLFE.
he accepted of the o6fer of the last, and went tbhfaer in
1707. The same year he was admitted into the society at
Leipsic, which was at that time engaged in the publication
of the "Acta eruditorum.'* After having irtserted in this
work many important pieces relating to physic arid the
mathematics, he undertook, in 1709, to teach all the vari-
ous branches of philosophy, and began with a little logical
Latin treatise, which made its appearance afterwards in the
German language, under the title of " Thoughts on the
Powers of the human Understanding." While he was
carrying on these great pursuits with assiduity and ardour,
the king of Prussia rewarded him with the post of counsel-
lor to the court on the decease of Bodinus in 1721, and
augmented the profits of that office by very considerable
appointments : he was also chosen a member of the Royal
Society of London and Prussia.
In the midst of this prosperity he raised a storm against
himself. He had, on the 12th of July, 1721, delivered a
Latin oration, the subject of which was the morality of the
Chinese: he loaded their philosophy with applause, and
endeavoured to prove how similar its principles were to
those which he bad advanced in doctrines of his own.
The divines at Hall were so exasperated at this attempt to
undervalue their tenets, that on the day following every
pulpit resounded with censures of Wolfe, and the oppo-
sition to him continued till 1722, when the faculty of the*
©logy were determined strictly to examine each production
6f our extraordinary philosopher. Daniel Strathler, whose
province was to scrutinize the "Essay on Metaphysics,"
published a refutation of it. Wolfe made his complaints
to the academic council, who issued out an order, that na
one should presume to write against him : but the faculty
having sent their representation to the court, which were
ail backed by the most strenuous assertions, that the doc-
trine which Wolfe taught, particularly on the subject of
liberty and necessity, was dangerous to the last degree, an
order at length arrived, Nov. 1 8, 1723, not only displacing
Wolfe, but commanding him (under pain of being severely
punished if he presumed to disobey) to leave Hall and the
States in twenty-four hours at the farthest
Wolfe retired 'now to Cassel, where he obtained the
professorship of mathematics and philosophy in t{je univer-
sity of Marbourg, with the title of counsellor to the court
of the landgrave of Hesse, to which a profitable pension
WOLFS. 98f
m* aimeaedu Here he reasaimed hit labours with re-
doubled ardour ; and it was iot this retreat that he published
the beat parts of his numerous works. In 1725 be was de-
clared an honorary professor of the academy of sciences at
St Petenburgb, and, in 1733, was admitted into that at
Paris. The king of Sweden also declared him one of the
council of regency : the pleasing situation of his new
abode, and the multitude of honours which he had received,
were too alluring to permit him to accept of many advan-
tageous offers ; amongst which was the post of president
of the academy at St. Petersbergh. The king of Prussia,
who was now recovered from the prejudices he had been
made to* conceive against Wolfe, wished to re-establish
him in the university of Hall in 47 33, and made another
attempt to effect it in 1739. Wolfe met these advances
with all that respectful deference which became him, but
took the liberty to insinuate, that he did not then believe
it right for him to comply. At last, however, he submit-
ted; and the prince offered him, in 1741, an employment
which threw every objection that he could make aside.
Wolfe, still mindful of Jiis benefactors, took a gracious
Leave . of the king of Sweden ; and returned to Hall, in-
vested with the characters of privy-counsellor, vice-chan-
cellor, and professor of the law. of nature and of nations.
After the death of Ludwig, the king raised him to the dignity
of chancellor of the university, and the elector of Bavaria
created him a baron of the empire (whilst he was exercis-
ing the vicarship of it), from his own free unbiassed incli-
nation.
He died at Hall in Saxony, of the gout in his stomach,
April 9, 1754, in his seventy-sixth year; after having
composed in Latin and German more than sixty distinct
pieces. The chief of bis mathematical compositions is his
" Elementa Matheseos Uniyersse," the best edition of
which is that of 1732, 5 vols. 4to, printed at Geneva ;
which does not, however, comprise his. Mathematical Die*
tionary in the German language, nor many other dis-
tinct works on different branches of the mathematics. His
•" System of Philosophy'7 is contained in 23 vols. 4to.
Brucker says, that Wolfe " possessed a clear and me-
thodical understanding, which by long exercise in mathe-
matical investigations was particularly fitted for the em-
ployment of digesting the several branches of knowledge
into tegular systems; and his fertile powers of invention
f 36 WOLFE,
enabled him to enrich almost every field of science, in
which he laboured, with some valuable additions. The
lucid order which appears in all his writings enables his
reader to follow his conceptions, with ease and certainty,
through the longest trains of reasoning. But the close
connection of the several parts-of his works, together with
the vast variety and extent of the subjects on which he
treats, renders it impracticable to give a summary of his
doctrines." A French critic remarks that all the German
works of this e«thor are *' extremely well written, and he
has also been very happy in finding words, in that language,
answering to the Latin philosophical terms which bad till
then been adopted ; and as this renders a small dictionary
necessary for understanding his phrases, he has placed one
at the end of such books as require it. As to his Latin
works, they are very ill written ; his words are ill chosen,
and frequently used in a wrong sense ; his phrases too per-
plexed and obscure, and his style in general too diffuse."
An abridgment of his great Latin work, "On the Law of
Nature and Nations," has been published in French, three
small vols. 12mo, by'Formey ; to which is prefixed, a life
of Wolfe, and a chronological list of all his writings. He
was, doubtless, one of the most learned philosophers and
mathematicians Germany has produced ; but his eulogy
seems to us to be carried too far, when he is compared to
Descartes and Leibnitz for his genius and writings, in both
which he was certainly much inferior to them.1
WOLFE (Major* General James), a brave English of-
ficer, was the son of lieutenant-general Edward Wolfe, and
was born at Westerham, in the county of Kent, where he
was baptised the nth of Jan. 1726. He seemed by nature
formed for military greatness : bis memory was retentive,
his judgment deep, and bis comprehension amazingly quick
and clear: his constitutional courage was not only .uniform
and daring, perhaps to an extreme, but he possessed that
higher species of it, that strength, steadiness, and activity,
of mind, which 'no difficulties could obstruct, or dangers
deter. With an universal liveliness, almost to impetuosity
of temper, he was not subject to passion ; with the great-
est independence of spirit, free from pride. Generous,
almost to profusion, he contemned every little art for the
acquisition of wealth ; whilst he searched after objects for
1 Life by Forcney. — Morten.-- Diet. Hist. — Brucker. — Saxij Ouotna«t.
WOLFE; as*
his charity and beneficence, the deserving soldier never
went unrewarded, and even the needy inferior officer fre*
quently tasted of his bounty : constant and distinguishing
in his attachment, manly and unreserved, yet gentle, kind*
and conciliating in his manners. He enjoyed a large share
of the friendship, and almost the universal good-will, of
mankind; and, to crown all, sincerity and candour, a true
sense of honour, justice, and public liberty, seemed the in-
herent principles of his nature, and the uniform rule of his
conduct. He betook himself, when very young, to the
profession of arms ; and with such talents, joined to the
most unwearied assiduity, he was soon singled out as a most
rising military genius. Even so early as the battle of La~
feldt, when scarcely twenty, he exerted himself in so mas-s
terly a manner, at a very critical juncture, that it drew the
highest encomiums from the great officer then at the head
of tbe army. During the whole war, he went on,, without
interruption, .forming his military character ; was present
at every engagement, and never passed undistinguished.
Even after the peace, whilst others lolled on pleasure's
downy lap, he was cultivating the arts of war. He intro-
duced (without one act of inhumanity) such regularity and
exactness of discipline into his corps, that, as long as the
six British battalions on the plains of Minden are recorded
in the annals of Europe, so long will Kingsley's stand
amongst the foremost of that day. Of that regiment he
continued lieutenant-colonel, till Mr. Pitt, afterwards lord
Chatham, who roused the sleeping genius of his country,
called him forth into higher spheres of action. He was
early in the most secret consultations for the attack upon
Rocbfort : and what he would have done there, and whqt
he afterwards did at Louisbourg, are recorded in history,
with due approbation. He was scarcely returned thence,
when he was appointed to command the important expe-
dition against Quebec. There his abilities shone out in
their brightest lustre : in spite of many unforeseen diffi-
culties, from the nature of the situation, from great supe-
riority of numbers, the strength of the place itself, and his
own bad state of health, he persevered with unwearied di-
ligence, practising eveiy stratagem of war to effect his pur-
pose. At last, singly, and alone in opinion, he formed and
executed that great, that dangerous, yet necessary, plan
which drew out the French to their defeat, and will for
ever denominate hiin the conqueror of Canada. When,
&3a WOLFE.
however, within the grasp of victory, he received a biM
through his wrist, which immediately wrapping op, he
went on, with the same alacrity, animating his troops by
precept and example : but, in a few minutes after, a se-j
oond ball, through his body, obliged him to be carried off
to a small distance in tbe rear. There, roused from faint-
ing,' in the last agonies, by the sound of " They run," h*4
eagerly asked, "Who run?" and being told the French*
and that they were defeated, be said, "then I thank God;
I die contented;" and almost instantly expired, Sept. 13,
1759.
He was brought to England, and interred at Greenwich
in the same grave with his father, who was buried on the se-
cond of April preceding. There is no memorial fof hinot
at Greenwich, but a cenotaph has been put up to his me-
mory in Westminster Abbey at the public expence, and
there is another at Westerbam, the place of his nativity. *
WOLFE (John), a learned compiler, was born Aug. 10,
1537, at Bergzabern in the duchy of Deux Pents, and was
educated in law and philosophy at Strasburgh, Wirtemberg,
Tubingen, and other celebrated academies, and afterwards
. was entrusted with the education of some noblemen's sons,
, with whom he travelled in France, &c. from 1564 to 1567.
Returning then to Dol, he took the degree of licentiate in
civil law, and settled in practice at Spire, where two years
after he was admitted into the number of assessors. In
1569 he attended Wolfgang, the elector Palatine, who came
with an army to the assistance of tbe French protestants,
and his highness dyirig a few months afterwards, Wolfe
conducted his corpse back to Germany by sea, and it was
interred at Meisenheim. For this melancholy duty and bis
ether faithful services he grew in esteem with Philip Lewis
and John, tbe electors Palatine, who thought him worthy of
being sent twice on important business to queen Elizabeth of
England, and once to the king of Poland. In 1573 Charles
marquis of Baden made him one of his counsellors, and
in 1575 appointed him governor of Mundlesheim, which
office he held for twenty years, and received many honours
and marks of favour from the Baden family. In 1594,
finding his health exhausted by official fatigues, he retired
to Hailbrun, where he passed the remainder of his days in
study, and died of a very short illness, as had always been
his wish, May 23, .1600, in the sixty-third ^ear of his
1 Pint edit, of this Diet.— Annual Register— and Gent. Mag. for 1759.
WOL'P.E. 2H
age. He wrote " Clavis Historiarum ;" and a larger work
entitled " Lectiotium memorabilium et reconditarum Ceo*
turiss XVI." 2 vols, fol. printed first in the year he died,
but there is an edition of 1671, which is not io much va*'
lued. Mr. Dibdin has accurately described this curiott*
work in his " Bibliomania/' to which the reader is re*
f erred.1
WOLFE (John Christopher), a learned scholar, hi*
therto strangely overlooked by roost foreign biographers,
was a native of Germany, born in 1683, bat removed in
his youth to Hamburgh, where he was educated under Fa*
bricius, and assisted him in his " Bibliotheca Grseca," as
appears by vol. XIII. of that laborious work. He was a
Lutheran divine, and preached at Hamburgh, where he
was also professor of the Oriental languages, and where he'
died in 1739. Many of his works are known in this couq~
try, and have been often quoted with approbation by bib-
lical scholars and critics. Among them are, 1. " Historia
Lexicorum Hebraieorum," Witteqa. 1705, 8 vo. 2. "Disseiv
tatio de Zabiis," ibid. 1706, 4to. 3. " Origenis Philoso*
phumena recognita et notis illustrata," Hamb. 1706, 8vo.
4. An edition of Pbs&drus, 1 709. 5, " Dissertatio de Atheisms
falso suspectis," Wittem. 1710, 4to. 6. " Casauboniana,
sive Isaaci Casauboni varia de. Scriptoribus, librisque j*-
dicia," Hamb. 1710, 8vo. 7. " Libanii epiat. adbuc non
editarum centuria select* Gr. cum versione et notis,"
Leipsic, 1711, 8vo. 8. " Anecdota Grseca sacra et pro-
fana," Hamb. 1722, &c. 3 vols. 8vo. 9. " Curse philolo*
fficfiB et critic« in omnes libros N. T," Hamb. 1725 — 1735,
but the best edition is that of Basil, 1741, 5 vols. 4to,
This, work, says bishop Watson, has some resemblance, ia
the manner of its composition, to Pool's " Synopsis/9 but
is written with more judgment, and contains the opinions
of many expositors who have lived since the publication
of Pool's work. Wolfe, moreover, has not followed Pool
in simply relating the sentiments of others, but has fre±
quently animadverted on them with great critical discern-
ment. Wolfe published other works, and new editions, all
which display great learning and critical acumen. His
brother John Christian, who died in 1770, was the author
of the " Monumenta typographical Hamburgh, 1740, 8 vo,
aa edition of the fragments of Sappho, and other works.*
1 Metcliior Adam.— Freheri Theatrura.— •» Bibliomania. ;
• Saxii OnOuaa^— Bibl. German, vols. V. and VIII.
240 WOLLASTON.
WOLLASTON (William), a learned and ingenious
writer, was born March 26, 1659, at Colon Clan ford, i»
Staffordshire, where his father theft resided, a private gen-
tleman of small fortune, being descended from an ancient
and considerable family in that county, where the elder
branch always continued; but the second, in process of
time, was transplanted into other counties. The head of it
flourished formerly at Oncot, in the county of Stafford,
though afterwards at Shenton, in Leicestershire ; and was
possessed of a large estate lying in those and other coun-
ties. Qur author was a second son of a third son of a se-
cond son of a second son, yet notwithstanding this remark-
able series of younger brothers, his grandfather, who
stands, in the midst of it, had a considerable estate both
real and personal, together with an office of 700/. per an-
num. And from a younger brother of the same branch
sprang sir John Wollaston, lord-mayor of London, well
known in that city at the time of the grand rebellion.
At uine years old, Mr, Wollaston was sent to a master,
who had opened a Latin school, at Shenstone in Stafford-
shire, where his father then resided. Here he continued
pear two years, and then removed to Lichfield ; but had
not been long at this school, when the magistrates of the
city, in consequence of some dispute, turned the master
out of the school-house. Mr. Wollaston, however, with
many of the scholars, followed the ejected master, and re*
mained with him till he quitted school, which was about
three years, after which, the schism being ended, he re-
turned into the free-school, and continued there about a
year. The rudeness of a great school was particularly dis-
agreeable to his natural disposition ; and what was stilt
worse, he began now to be much troubled with the bead*
ach, which seems to have been constitutional in him ; yet
bis uncommon attention to his book, and eagerness to im-
prove, had now rendered him fit for the university. Ac*
cordingly he was sent to Cambridge,, and admitted a pen-
sioner at Sidney-college, June 18r 1674, in the sixteenth
year of his age. Here he laboured under some discourage-
ments. He was come up a country l^d from a country*
school ; had no acquaintance in his college, nor even in
the university; few books or materials to work with; his
allowance being by no means more than sufficient for bare
necessaries ; neither had he sufficient confidence to supply
that defect by applying to others. Add to this that hi$
WOLLASTON. 241 .
state of health was not quite firm. However, under ail
these disadvantages, he acquired much reputation, and
having taken his degree of fi. A. at the regular time, he
offered himself a candidate for a fellowship in his college,
but missed of that preferment. In July 1681 he com-
menced M. A. and about this time seems to have entered
into deacon's orders.
On Michaelmas-day following, be left the university, and
having made a visit to the then head of this branch of the
family, his cousin Wollaston of Shenton in Leicestershire,
be went to pay his duty to his father and mother at Blox-
wyche, where they then lived, and remained with them till
May or June 1 682. But seeing no prospect of preferment,
be so far conformed himself to the circumstances of his
family, as about this time to become assistant at Birming-
ham school to the head master, who readily embraced' the
opportunity of such a coadjutor, and considered Mr. Wollas-
ton as one who had prudentially stooped to an employment
beyond what he might reasonably have pretended to. This
instance, however, of his humble industry was far from
being displeasing to 'his cousin of Shenton, who had a great
esteem for the head master, and in a short time, he got a
small lecture at the distance of about two miles from Bir-
mingham ; but as he performed there the whole Sunday's
duty, that fatigue, added to the business of a great free-
school for about four years, began to break bis constitution.
But the old master being now turned out, in order to make
way for a particular person to succeed him, our author was
chosen second master only, under a pretence that he was
too young to be at the head of so great a school, but some of
the governors themselves owned that he was not well used
in this affair.
However that may be, it is certain upon this occasion
he took priest's orders in pursuance to the charter of that
school, which being interpreted likewise so as to oblige
the masters to take no church-preferment, he resigned his
lecture. This happened in 1686, and was a considerable
relief to him, while his new post was worth about 70/. per
annum, which afforded him a tolerable subsistence. In the
mean time the late chief master after his expulsion retired
to his brother's house, which lying in the neighbourhood
of Shenton, he once or twice waited upon Mr. Wollaston,
of Shenton, and undoubtedly informed him of the charac-
ter, learning, conversation, and conduct of our author,
Vol. XXXII. R
2*2 WOLLASTON.
which be was very capable of doing, because they lived
together, till the time of this old gentleman's leaving Bir-
mingham. Mr. Wollaston, of Sbenton, having now lately
lost his only son, and never intending (as appears from his
whole conduct) to give his estate to bis daughters, pursued
his father's design of continuing it in the male line of bis
family, and resolved to settle it upon our author's uncle
and father, his own first cousins, and his nearest male-re-
lations, in the same proportions and manner exactly as it
had been entailed on them by his father. And accordingly
he made such a settlement, subject however to a revo-
cation.
Our author all this while applied himself to his business ;
and never waited upon bis cousin, or employed any one to
. speak or act in his behalf (though many then blamed him
for neglecting to do it) ; only one visit be made him in the
November before his death, which was upon a Saturday in
the afternoon. He gave him a sermon the next day, re-
ceived his hearty thanks, aijd the next morning desired
leave to return to the duties of bis station ; without speak-
ing or even insinuating any thing respecting his estate.
His cousin dismissed him with great kindness ; and by his
looks and manner seemed to have a particular regard for
him, but discovered nothing of his intention by words.
However, he used to employ persons privately to observe
our author's behaviour (who little suspected any such mat-
ter), and his behaviour was found to be such, that the
stricter the observations were upon it, the more they turned
to his advantage. In fine, Mr. Wollaston, of Shenton, be*
came so thoroughly satisfied of our author's- merit, that be
revoked the above-mentioned settlement, and made a will
in his favour. In August following, that gentleman fell
sick, and sending secretly to our author to come over to
him, as of his own accord, without any notice of his illness,
he complied with the message, and staid some days at
Shenton. But while he was gone home, under a promise
of returning, his cousin died, August 19, 1688.
By bis relation's will, Mr. Wollaston found himself in«
titled to a very ample estate ; but this change, sudd/en, and
advantageous as it was to his affairs, wrought no change in
his temper. The same firmness o( mind, which had sup-
ported him under the pressure of a more adverse fortune,
enabled, him to bear bis prosperity with moderation. In
November following he came to London, and about a year
W O L L A S T O N. 243
after, on the 26th of that month, 1689, he married miss
Catherine Charlton, daughter of Mr. Nicholas Charlton,
an eminent citizen of London, a fine woman with a good
fortune, and an excellent character. With "this lady he
settled in Charter-house square, in a private, retired, and
studious life. His carriage was nevertheless free and open.
He aimed at solid and real content, rather than show and
grandeur, and manifested his dislike of power and dignity,
by refusing one of the highest preferments in the church,
when it was offejfed to him.
He had now books and leisure, and he was resolved to
make use of them. He was perfectly acquainted with the
elementary parts of learning, and with the learned lan-
guages, Latin, Greek, Hebrew, Arabic, &c. He thought
it necessary to ajld to these such a degree of philology and
criticism as seemed likely to be useful to him : and also
mathematical sciences, or at least the fundamentals of
them ; the general philosophy of nature : the history and
antiquities of the more known and noted states and king-
doms ; and in order to attain the knowledge of true reli-
gion, and the discovery of truth, the points which he al-
ways had particularly in view, and to which he chiefly di-
rected all bis studies, he diligently inquired into the ido-
latries of the heathens ; and made himself master of the
sentiments, rites, and learning of the Jews ; the history of
the first settlement of Christianity, and the»opinions and
practice introduced into it since. In the mean time he
exercised and improved his mind by using himself to clear
images, observing the influence and extent of axioms, the
nature and force of consequence's, and the method of in-
vestigating truth. In general, he accustomed himself to
much thinking as well as much reading. He likewise de-
lighted in method and regularity : and chose to have his
labours and refreshments periodical, and that his family and
friends should observe the proper seasons of their revolu-
tion. He was most remarkably cheerful and lively in con-
versation, which rendered his company agreeable, and him*-
self worthy to be courted by the learned and virtuous. But
a general acquaintance was what he never cultivated, and
it grew (as is mostly the case) more and more his aversion,
so that he passed his days principally at home, with a few
friends, with whom he could enjoy an agreeable relaxation
of mind, and receive all the advantages of a sincere and
epen friendship.
244 W O L L A S T O N.
Having thus fixed bis resolution to deserve honours, but
not to wear them, it was not long before he published a
piece entitled, " Th6 Design of Part of the Book of Eccle-
siastes, or the Unreasonableness of Man's restless Conten-
tions for the present Enjoyments, represented in an Eng-
lish poem," in 8vo. But as he had never made poetry his
study, he was very sensible of the defects of this attempt,
and was afterward very desirous to suppress it. This poem
was printed in 1690. Notwithstanding be declined to ac-
cept of any public employment, yet his studies were de-
signed to be of public use, and his solitude was far from
being employed in vain and trifling amusements, termina-
ting in himself alone. But neither in this last view, could
his retirement be without some inconveniences. His inti-
mates were dropping off, and their places remained unsup-
plied; his own infirmities were increasing; the frequent
remission of study, growing more and more necessary ; and
his solitude at the same time becoming less and less agree-
able, for want of that conversation which had hithertp sup-
ported it.
It was but a short time before his death that he pub-
lished his celebrated treatise, entitled " The Religion of
Nature delineated." He appears at first to have doubted
the success of this work, and in 1722 printed only a few
copies for the use of bis friends, but when prevailed upon
to publish it, it was so much approved that upwards of
10,000 copies were sold in a few years; and it has in all
passed through eight or nine editions, five of which were
in quarto.
Of the ingenuity, of this work as a composition no doubts
have been entertained, but its tendency was soon thought
liable to suspicion. Some objected that he had injured
Christianity by laying too much stress upon the obligations
of truth, reason, and virtue ; and by making no mention
of revealed religion, nor even so much as dropping the
least and most distant hints in its favour. This made him
pass for an unbeliever with some ; and the late lord Bo-
lingbroke supposes Dr. Clarke to have had him iti his eye
when he described his fourth sort of theists. Wollaston
held and has asserted the being and attributes of God, na-
tural and moral ; a providence, general and particular; the
obligations to morality ; the immateriality and immortality
of the soul ; a future state : and Clarke's fourth sort of
theists held and asserted the same. But whether Wollaston,
WOLLASTON. 245
like those theists, rejected all above this in the system of
revelation, cannot with any certainty be concluded, though
at the same time the contrary perhaps may not appear ;
because, whatever might have been thought necessary to
prevent offence from being taken, it was not essential to
Wollaston's design to meddle with revealed religion. In
the mean time, lord Bolingbroke has treated " The Reli-
gion of Nature delineated,9' as a system of theism ; which
it certainly is, whether Wollaston was a believer or not.
His lordship calls it " strange theism, as dogmatical and
absurd as artificial theology," and has spent several pages
to prove it so ; yet allows the author of it to have been " a
man of parts, of learning, a philosopher, and a geometri-
cian." The seventh edition of this work was printed in
1750 in 8vo, to which are added an account of the author,
and also a translation of the notes into English. There is
prefixed an advertisement by Dr. John Clarke, late dean of
Salisbury, which informs us, that this work was in great
esteem with her late majesty queen Caroline, who com-
manded him to translate the notes into English for her own
use. Pope, who has taken some thoughts from it into his
" Essay on Man," informs Mr. Bethel in one of bis letters
how much this work was a favourite with the ladies, but
accompanies his information with a sneer at the sex, which
we dare not transcribe.
Immediately after he had completed the revisal and pub-
lication of his " Religion of Nature delineated," Mr. Wol-
laston had the misfortune to break his arm ; and as his
health was before in a very infirm state, this accident ac-
celerated his death, which happened Oct. 29, 1724. He
was interred in Great Finborough church, Suffolk, in the
same grave with his wife, who died in 1720.
He had begun seVeral other works, but they being in an
unfinished state, he had burnt, or ordered them to be
burnt, some time before his death. The following, how-
ever, happened to be spared; but from the place in which
they were deposited, and from some other circumstances,
it is probable that they owed their escape to mere forget-
ful ness. They were in number thirteen (besides about
fourscore sermons) viz. 1. "An Hebrew Grammar." 2.
a Tyrocinia Arabica & Syriaca." 3. " Specimen Voca-
bularii Biblico-Hebraici, Uteris nostratibus, quantum fert
Linguarum dissonantia, descripti." 4. " Formulas quae-
dam Gemarinae." 5. " De variis generibus" pedum, me-
846 WOLLASTON,
trorum, earminum, &c. apad Judaeos, Graecos, & Latinos/*
6. " De Vocum Tonis Monitio ad Ty rones." 7. " Rudi-
roenta ad Mathesin & Philosophiam spectantia." S. " Mis-
cellanea Philologica." 9. Opinions of the ancient Philo-
sophers. 10. " Judaica: sive Religionis & Literature Ju-
daicse synopsis." 11. A collection of some antiquities and
particulars in the history of mankind; tending to shew,
that men have not been here upon this earth from eternity,
&c. 12. Some passages relating to the history of Christ,
collected out of the primitive fathers. 13. A treatise re-
lating to the Jews, of their antiquities, language, &c.
What renders it the more probable, or indeed almost be-
yond doubt, that he would have destroyed these likewise,
if he had remembered them, is, that several of those which
remain undestroyed, are only rudiments or rougher sketches
of what he afterwards reconsidered and carried on much
farther; and which even after such revisal, he neverthe-
less committed to the flames, as being still (in his opinion)
short of that perfection, to which he desired and bad in-
tended to bring them, and accordingly none of them have
appeared.1
WOLSEY (Thomas), a celebrated cardinal and states-
man, but to be remembered with more respect as a bene-
factor to learning, was so obscure in his origin that scarcely
any historian mentions the names of his father and mother.
Their names, however, are preserved by Rymer (Feed. vol.
XIV. p. 355), in the pope's bull of favours to those who
came to Cardinal college in Oxford, and prayed for the
safety of the said cardinal, and after his decease for the
souls of him, his father Robert, and bis mother Joan. This
partly confirms the discovery of his zealous biographer, Dr.
Fiddes, that he was the son of one Robert Wolsey, a but-
cher of Ipswich, where he was born in March 1471. Fiddes
says that this Robert had a son whose early history corre-
sponds with that of the cardinal, and that he was a man of
considerable landed property. We may from other evi-
dence conclude that his parents were either not poor, or
not friendless, since they were able to give him the best
education his native town afforded, and afterwards to send
him to Magdalen college. But in whatever way he was in-
troduced here, it is certain that his progress in academical
1 Life prefixed to tbe Religion of Nature, many particulars of which are take*
from a narrative drawn up by himself, and printed for the first time in Mr. Ni-
ahols,a " Illustrations of Literature," vol. L— J*iog. Brit.
WOLSEY. 247
studies was so rapid that he was admitted to the degree of
bachelor of arts at the age of fifteen, and from this ex-
traordinary instance of precocity, was usually named the
boy bachelor.
No proofs are indeed wanting of 'his uncommon reputa-
tion as a scholar, for he was elected fellow of his college
toon after taking his bachelor's degree, and proceeding to
that of master, he was appointed teacher of Magdalen
grammar school. In 1498, he was made bursar of the
college, about which time be has the credit of building
Magdalen tower. It is yet more in proof of his learning
having been of the most liberal kind, and accompanied
with a corresponding liberality of sentiment, that he be-
came acquainted with Erasmus, then it Oxford, and joined
that illustrious scholar in promoting classical studies, which
were peculiarly obnoxious to the bigotry of the times. The
letters whiph passed between Wolsey arid Erasmus for some
years imply mutual respect and union of sentiment on all
matters in which literature was concerned ; and their love
of learning, and contempt for the monks, although this last
was excited by different motives, are points in which we
perceive no great disagreement. Yet as Erasmus conti-
nued to live the life of a mere scholar, precarious and de-
pendent, and Wolsey was rapidly advancing to rank and
honours, too many and too high for a subject, a distance
was placed between them which Wolsey would not shorten,
and Erasmus could not pass. Hence, while a courteous
familiarity was preserved in Wolsey* s correspondence, Eras-
nrus could not' help betraying the feelings of a client who
has received little more than promises from his patron, and
when Wolsey fell from his high state, Erasmus joined in
the opinion that he was unworthy of it. For this he is se-
verely censured by Fiddes, and ably defended by Knight
and Jortin.
Wolsey's first ecclesiastical preferment was the rectory
of Lymington in Somersetshire, conferred upon him in
1500, by the marquis of Dorset, to whose three sons he
had acted as tutor, when in Magdalen college. On receiv-
ing this presentation he left the university, and resided for
some time on his cure, when a singular circumstance in-
duced, or perhaps rendered it absolutely necessary for him
to leave it. At a merry meeting at Lymington he either
passed the bounds of sobriety, or was otherwise accessary
in promoting a riot, for which sir Amyas Paulet, a justice
24S WOLSEY.
of peace, set him in the stocks. This indignity Wolsey
remembered when it would have been honourable as well
as prudent to have forgot it. After he had arrived at the
high rank of chancellor, he ordered sir A my as to be con*
fined withi/i the bounds of the Temple, and kept him in
that place for five or six years.
On his quitting Lymington, though without resigning
the living, Henry Dean, archbishop of Canterbury, made
bim ope of his domestic chaplains, and in 1503, the pope,
Alexander, gave him a dispensation to bold two benefices.
On the death of the archbishop, in the same year, he was
appointed chaplain to sir John Nan fan of Worcestershire,
treasurer of Calais, which was then in the possession of the
English, and by him recommended to Henry VII. who
made him one of his chaplains. About the end of 1504,
he obtained from pope Julius II. a dispensation to hold a
third living, the rectory of Redgrave in Norfolk. In the
mean time he was improving bis interest at court by an
affable and plausible address, and by a display of political
talent, and quick and judicious dispatch in business, which
rendered him very useful and acceptable to his sovereign,
In February 1508, the king gave him the deanery of Lin*
coin, and two prebends in the same church, and would
probably have added to these preferments had be not been
prevented by his death in the following year.
This event, important as it was to the kingdom, was of
no disadvantage to Wolsey, who saw in the young king,
Henry VlII. a disposition that might be rendered mpre fa-
vourable to bis lofty views ; yet what bis talents might have
afterwards procured, he owed at this time to a court in-
trigue. Fox, bishop of Winchester and founder of Cor-
pus Christi college, introduced bim to Henry, in order to
counteract the influence of the earl of Surrey (afterwards
duke of Norfolk), and bad probably no worse intention
than to preserve a balance in the council; but Wolsey,
who was not destined to play a subordinate part, soon rose
higher in influence than either his patron or bis opponent.
He studied, with perfect knowledge of the human heart, to
please the young king, fyy joining in indulgencies which,
however suitable to the gaiety of a court, were i)l becoming
the character of an ecclesiastic. Yet amidst the luxuries
which he promoted in bis royal master, he did not neglect
to inculcate maxims of state, and, above all, to insinuate, in
9 manner that appeared equally dutiful and disinterested,
W O L S E Y. 249
the advantages of a system of favouritism, which he se-
cretly hoped would one day center in his own person. Nor
was he disappointed, as for some time after this, his bis*
tory, apart from what share he had in the public councils,
is little more than a list of promotions following each other
with a rapidity that alarmed the courtiers, and inclined the
people, always jealous of sudden elevations, to look back
on his origin.
In this rise, he was successively made almoner to the
king, a privy counsellor, and reporter of the proceedings
of the Star-chamber; rector of Turrington in the diocese
of Exeter, canon of Windsor, registrar of the order of the
garter, and prebendary and dean of York. From these he
passed on to become dean of Hereford, and precentor of
St Paul's, both of which he resigned on being preferred
to the bishopric of Lincoln ; chancellor <of the order of the
garter, and bishop of Tournay in Flanders, which he held
until 1518, when that city was delivered up to the French,
but he derived from it afterwards an annual pension of
twelve thousand livres*. In 1514, he was consecrated
bishop of Lincoln, in the room of Smyth, founder of Bra-
sen-nose college, and was chosen chancellor of the univer-
sity of Cambridge. The same year be was promoted to
the archbishopric of York* and created cardinal of St. Ce-
cilia.
Yet in the plenitude of that political influence which be
now maintained to the exclusion of the ancient nobility and
courtiers, it appears that for some time he preserved the
peace of the country, by a strict administration of justice,
and by a punctuality in matters of finance, which admitted
no very unfavourable comparisons between him and his
predecessors. Perhaps the splendour and festivities which
be encouraged in the court might, by a diffusion of the
royal wealth among the public, contribute tb a certain de-
gree of . popularity, especially when contrasted with the
more economical habits encouraged by Henry VII. It was
not until he established his legantine court, a species' of
English popedom, that the people had reason to complain
•of a vast and rapacious power, unknown to the constitution,
boundless in its capricious decrees, and against which there
was no redress. This court, however, could not have in-
* Br, Fiddes allows that this piece been neither legally nor ecclesiastically
of preferment partook of usurpation, deprived.
as the former bishop of Tournay had
250 WOLSE Y.
flicted many public injuries/ as it formed no part of tfce
complaints of parliament against him, when complaints
might have been preferred with safety, and would have
been welcomed from any quarter. At that time, the le-
gality-of the power was called in question, but not the
exercise of it.
In the private conduct of this extraordinary man, while
in the height of his prosperity, we find a singular mixture
of personal pride and public munificence. While bis train
of servants rivalled that of the king, and was composed of
many persons of rank and distinction, his house was a
school where their sons were usefully educated, and ini-
tiated in public life. And while he was dazzling the eyes,
or insulting the feelings of the people by an ostentation of
gorgeous furniture and equipage, such as exceeded the
royal establishment itself, he was a general and liberal pa-
tron of literature, a man of consummate taste in works of
art, elegant in his plans, and boundless in his expences to
execute them ; and, in the midst of luxurious pleasures and
pompous revellings, he was meditating the advancement of
science by a munificent use of those riches which he seemed
to accumulate only for selfish purposes.
In the mean time, there was no intermission in his pre-
ferments. His influence was courted by the pope, who bad
made him a cardinal, and, in 1516, his legate in England,
with powers not inferior to his own; and by the king of
Spain, who granted him a pension of three thousand livres,
while the duchy of Milan bestowed on him a yearly grant
of ten thousand ducats. On the resignation of archbishop
Warham, he was appointed lord high chancellor. " If this
new accumulation of dignity," says Home, " increased his
enemies, it also served to exalt his personal character, and
prove the extent of his capacity. A strict administration
of justice took place during bis enjoyment of this high
office ; • and no chancellor ever discovered greater impar-
tiality in bis decisions, deeper penetration of judgment, or
more enlarged knowledge of law or equity ."
In 1518, he attended queen Catherine to Oxford, and
intimated to the university his intention of founding lec-
tures on theology, civil law, physic, philosophy, mathema-
tics, rhetoric, Greek, and Latin ; and in the following year
three of these, viz. for Greek, Latin, and rhetoric, were
founded and endowed with ample salaries, and read in the
hall of Corpus Chtisti college. He- appointed fpr his lee-
W O L S E Y. 251
t
tures the ablest scholars whom the. university afforded, or
whom he could invite from the continent The members
of the convocation, about, this time, conferred upon him
the highest mark of their esteem by a solemn decree that
he should have the revisal and correction of tfre Oniversity
statutes in the most extensive sense, and it does not ap-
pear that they had any reason to repent of this extraordi-
nary instance of their confidence. The same power was
conferred upon him by the university of Cambridge, and
in both cases, was accompanied by documents which proved
the very high opinion entertained by these learned bodies
of his fitness to reform what was amiss in the republic of
letters.
In the same year the pope granted him the administra-
tion of the bishopric of Bath and Wells, and the king be-
stowed on him its temporalities. This see, with those of
Worcester and Hereford, which the cardinal, likewise
farmed, were filled by foreigners who were allowed non-
residence, and compounded for this indulgence by yield-
ing a share of the revenues. The cardinal's aid, about
this time, in establishing the College of Physicians of Lon-
don, is to be recorded among the many instances of the
very liberal views he entertained of every improvement
connected with literature. In 1521, he evinced his zeal
against the reformation which Luther had begun, by pro-
curing bis doctrines to be condemned in an assembly of
divines held at his own house, published pope Leo's bull
against him, and endeavoured to suppress his writings in
this kingdom ; but there is no favourable part of his cha-
racter so fully established as his moderation towards the
English Lutherans, for one article of bis impeachment was
his being remiss in punishing heretics, and showing a dis-
position rather to screen them.
In the same year, he received the rich abbey of St. AI-
ban's to hold in commendam, and soon after went abroad
on an embassy. About this time also, he became a candi-
date for the papal chair, on the demise of Leo X. but wat
not successful. This disappointment, however, was com-
pensated in some degree by the emperor, who settled a
pension on him of nine thousand crowns of gold, and by
the bishopric of Durham, to which he was appointed in
1523. On this he resigned the administration of Bath and
Wells. The same year he issued a mandate to remove
the convocation of the province of Canterbury from St*
2*2 W O L S E Y.
Paul's to Westminster, one of bis most unpopular acts, but
which appears to have been speedily reversed. On the
■death of pope Adrian he made a second unsucdessful at-
tempt to be elected pope; but while he failed in this, he
received from his rival a confirmation of the whole papal
authority in England.
In 1524, he intimated to the university of Oxford his
design of founding a college there, and soon commenced
that great work. About two years after he founded his
school*, or college, as it has been sometimes called, at
Ipswich, as a nursery for his intended college at Oxford,
and this for, a short time is said to have rivalled the schools
of Winchester and Eton. As he mixed ecclesiastical dig-
nity with all his learned institutions, he appointed here a
dean, twelve canons, and a numerous choir. At the same
time he sent a circular address to the schoolmasters of Eng-
land, recommending them to teach their youth the elernents
of elegant literature, literatura eleganlissirjta, and prescribed
the use of Lily's grammar.
Of the immense riches which he derived from his vari-
ous preferments, some were no doubt spent in luxuries
which left only a sorrowful remembrance, but the greater
part was employed in those magnificent edifices which
have immortalized his genius and spirit. In 1514 he be-
gan to build the palace at Hampton Court, and having
finished it, with all its sumptuous furniture, in 1528, he
presented it to the king, who in return gave him the pa-
lace of Richmond for a residence. In this last mentioned
year,* he acceded to the bishopric of Winchester by the
death of Fox, and resigned that of Durham. To Winches-
ter, however, he never went. That reverse of fortune
which has exhibited him as an example of terror to the
ambitious, was now approaching, and was accelerated by
•events, the consequences of which he foresaw, without the
power of averting them. Henry, was now agitated by a
passion not to be controuled by the whispers of friendship,
pr the counsels of statesmen, and when the cardinal, whom
he had appointed to forward his divorce from queen Ca-
therine and his marriage with Anne Boleyn, appeared tar-
dily to adhere to forms, or scrupulously to interpose ad*
•
* On the site of the priory of St. for this school was discontinued on
Peter's, which was surrendered to the the cardinal's fall. The foundation
cardinal, March 6, 1537. Dr. Wil- stone is now preserved in Christ
liana Capon was first and last dean, Church.
W O L S E Y. 253
vice, he determined to make him feel the weight of his
resentment. It happened unfortunately for the cardinal
that both the queen and her. rival were his enemies, the
queen from a suspicion that she never had a cordial friend
in him, and Anne from a knowledge that be had secretly
endeavoured to prevent her match with the king. But a
initiate detail of these transactions and intrigues belongs
to history, in which they occupy a large space. It may
suffice here to notice that the cardinal's ruin, when once
determined, was effected in the most sudden and rigorous
manner, and probably without his previous knowledge of
the violent measures that were to be taken.
On the first day of term, Oct. 9, 1529, while he was
opening the Court of Chancery at Westminster, the at-
torney-general indicted him in the Court of King's Bench,
on the statute of provisors, 16 Richard II. for procuring a
bull from Rome appointing him legate, contrary to the
statute, by which he had incurred a pramunire> and for-
feited all his goods to the king, and might' be imprisoned.
Before be could give in any reply to this indictment, the
king sent to demand the great seal from him, which w£s
given to sir Thomas More. He was then ordered to leave
York-place, a palace which had for some centuries been
the residence of the archbishops of York, and which he
had adorned with furniture of great value and magnifi-
cence : it now became a royal residence under the name
of Whitehall. Before leaving this place to go to Esher,
near Hampton Court, .a seat belonging to the bishopric of
Winchester, he made an inventory of the furniture, plate,
&c. of York-place, which is said to have amounted to the
incredible sum of five hundred thousand crowns, or pounds
of our money. He then went to Putney by water, and
set out on the rest of his journey on his mule, but he had
not gone far before he was met by a messenger from the
king, with a gracious message, assuring him that he stood
as high as ever in the royal favour, and this accompanied
by a ring, which the king had been accustomed to send, as
a token to give credit to the bearer. Wolsey received these
testimonials with the humblest expression of gratitude, but
proceeded on his way to Esher, which he found quite un-
furnished. The king's design by this solemn mockery is
not easily conjectured. It is most probable that it was a
trick to inspire the cardinal with hopes of being restored
to favour, and consequently to prevent his defending him*
25* W O L S EY.
self in the prosecution upon the statute of provisors, which
Henry knew he could da hy producing his letters patent
authorising him to accept the pope's bulls. And this cer-
tainly was the consequence, for the Cardinal merely in-
structed his attorney to protest in his name that he was
quite ignorant of the above statute ; but that he acknow-
ledged other particulars with which be was charged to be
true, and submitted himself to the king's mercy. The sen-
tence of the court was, that "he was out of the protection,
and his lands, goods, and chattels forfeit, and his person
might be'&eized."
The next step to complete his ruin was taken by the
duke of Norfolk and the privy counsellors, who drew up
articles against him, and presented them to the king; but
he stilt affecting to take no personal concern in the matter,
remained silent. Yet these probably formed the basis of
the forty r four articles presented December I, to the House
of Lords, as by some asserted, or, according to other ac-
counts, by the lords of the council to the House of Com-
mons. Many of them are evidently frivolous or false, and
others, although true, were not within the jurisdiction of
the House.. The cardinal had, in fact, already suffered, as
' his goods had been seized by the king ; he was now in a
pramunirc, and the House could not go much farther than
to recommend what had already taken place. The car-
dinal, however, fouhd one friend amidst all his distresses,
who was not to be alarmed either at the terrors of the
court or of the people. This was Thomas Cromwell, for-
merly Wolsey's steward (afterwards earl of Essex), who
now refuted the articles with so much spirit, eloquence,
and argument, that although a very opposite effect might
have been expected, his speech is supposed to have laid
the foundation of that favour which the king afterwards
extended to him, but which, at no very distant period,
proved as fatal to him as it had been to his master. His
eloquence had a yet more powerful effect, for the address
founded on these articles was rejected by the Commons,
and the Lords could not proceed farther without their con-
currence.
During the cardinal's residence at Esher the king sent
several messages to him/ " some good and some bad,"
says Cavendish, " but more ill than good," until this tan-
talizing correspondence, operating on a mind of strong
passions, brought on, about the end of the year, a sickness
WOLSEV, 255
which w&s represented to the king as being apparently
fatal. The king ordered his physician, Dr. Butts, to visit
him, who confirmed what had been reported of the dan*
gerous state of his health, but intiihated that as his disease
affected his mind rather than his body, a kind word from
his majesty might prove more effectual than the best skill
of the faculty. On this the king sent him a ring, with a
gracious message that be was not offended with him in his
heart ; and Anne Boleyn sent him a tablet of gold that .
usually hung at her side, with many kind expressions*
The cardinal received these testimonies of returning favour
with joy and gratitude, and in a few d?y& was pronounced
out of danger.
Nor can we blame Wolsey for his credulity, since Hen-
ry, although he had stripped the cardinal of all his pro-
perty, and the income arising from all his preferments,
actually granted him, Feb. 12, 1530, a free pardon for all
crimes and misdemeanors, and a few days after restored to
him the revenues, &c. of the archbishopric of York, ex-
cept York place, before- mentioned, and one thousand
marks yearly from the bishopric of Winchester. He also
sent him a present of 3000/. in money, and a quantity of
plate and furniture exceeding that sum, and allowed him
to remove from Esher to Richmond, where he resided for
some time in the lodge in the old park, and afterwards in
the priory. His enemies at court, however, who appear
to have influenced the king beyond his usual arbitrary dis-
position, dreaded Wolsey *s being so near his majesty, and
prevailed on him to order him to reside in his archbishop-
ric. Jn obedience to this mandate, which was softened by
another gracious message from Henry, he first went to the
archbishop's seat at Southwell, and about the end of Sep-
tember fixed his residence at Cawood castle, which he
began to repair, and was acquiring popularity by his hos-
pitable manners and bounty, when his capricious master was
persuaded to arrest him for high treason, and order him to
be conducted to London. Accordingly, on the first of
November he set out, but on the road he was seized with
a disorder of the dysenteric kind, brought on by fatigue
and anxiety, which put a period to bis life at Leicester
abbey on the 28th of that montl}, in the fifty-ninth year
of his age *. Some of his last words implied the awful and
• The cardinal bad a bastard son Pont. Rom. dilecti filio Thoroae Wulcy
•ailed Thomas Winter* " Bulla J alii Rectori parocb. Eccl'iw de Lymyngtoa
256 W 0 L S E Y.
just reflection, that if be had served his God as diligently
as be had served his Jcing, he would not have given him
over to his enemies. Two days after he was interred in
the abbey church of Leicester, but the spot is not now
known. As to the report of his having poisoned himself,
founded on an expression in the printed work of Cavendish,
it has been amply refuted by a late eminent antiquary, who
examined the whole of the evidence with much acuteness*.
Modern historians have formed a more favourable esti-
mate of Wolsey's character than their predecessors, yet it
bad that mixture of good and evil which admits of great
variety of opinion, and gives to ingenious party-colouring
all the appearance of truth. Perhaps Shakspeare, borrow-
ing from Holinshed and Hall, has drawn a more just and
comprehensive sketch of his perfections and failings than is
to be found in any other writer.
' « This cardinal,
Though from an humble stock, undoubtedly
Was fashioned to much honour. From his cradle
He was a scholar, and a ripe and good one ;
Exceeding wise, fair spoken, and persuading -,
Lofty and sour to them that lov'd him not j
But to those men that sought him, sweet as summer.
And though he was unsatisfy'd in getting,
(Which was a sin) yet in bestowing, madam, '
He was most princely : Ever witness for him
Those twins of learning that he raised in you,
Ipswich and Oxford ! one of which fell with him,
Unwilling to Outlive the good that did it ;
The other, though unfinished, yet so famous,
So excellent in art, and still so rising,
That Christendom shall ever speak his virtue.
His overthrow heap'd happiness upon him ;
For then, and not till then, he felt himself,
And found the blessedness of being little :
And, to add greater honours to his age
Than man could give him, he died, fearing God 1 ."
The cardinal's biographers, in treating of the founda-
tion of his college, begin with a very laboured defence of
his seizing the property and revenues of many priories and
nunneries, which were to serve as a fund for building and
* »
Batho. Well. dioc. M agist rum in Ar * The learned Dr. Samuel Pegge. *
tibui pro Dispensatione ad tcfrtium in? See' Gent Mag. vol. XXV. p. 25, and -
compatible, dat. Rome. 1508. pud, two very able articles on the cardinal's
cat. Aogusti Pont, n'ri anno quinto." impeachment, p. 299, 345.
—Rennet's MSS, in Brit. Mu*. oblig- f The speech af the " honeat chro-
ingly commuuicated by Mr. Ellis. nicler, Griffith," to queen Katherine.
Henry VIII. Act IV. Scene H.
W O L S E Y. 257
endowment; and the zeal they display on this subject, if
it cannot now enforce conviction, at least proves the histo-
rical fact that the rights of property even at that time were
not to be violated with impunity $ and that the cardinal's
conduct was highly unpopular* At first it was objected
to even by the king himself/ although he soon afterwards
converted it into a precedent for a more general dissolu-
tion of religious bouses. Wolsey* however* ought not to
be deprived of such defence as has been set up. It has
been urged, that he. procured bulls from the pope em-
powering him to seize on these priories; and that the
pope, according to the notions then entertained of his su*
premacy, could grant a power by which religious houses
might be converted into societies for secular priests, and
for the advancement of learning. It has been also pleaded*
that the cardinal did not alienate the revenues from reli-
gious service, but only made a change in the application
of them ; that the appropriation of the alien priories by
Chichele and Waynftete was in some respects a precedent,
and that the suppression of the Ternplers in the fourteenth
century, might also be quoted. Bishop Tanner likewise,
in one of his letters to Dr. Charlett, quotes as precedents,
bishops Fisher, Alcdck, and Beckington. But perhaps the
best excuse is that hinted by lord Cherbury, namely, that
Wolsey persuaded the king to abolish unnecessary mo-
nasteries that necessary colleges might be erected, and
the progress of the reformation impeded by the learning
of the clergy and scholars educated in them. The same
writer suggests, that as .Wolsey pleaded for the dissolution
of only the small and superfluous houses, the king might
not dislike this as a fair experiment how far the project of
a general dissolution would be relished. On the other
hand, by two -letters still extant, written by the king, it
^ appears that be was fully aware of the unpopularity of the
measure, although we cannot infer from them that he had
any remedy to prescribe.
Whatever weight these apologies had with one part of .
the public, we are assured that they had very little with
another, and that the progress of the college was accom-
panied by frequent expressions of popular dislike in the
shape of lampoons. The kitchen having been first finished,
one of the satirists of the day exclaimed, Egregium opus I
Cardindis iste instituit Collegium et absolvit popinam. Other
Vol. XXXIL S
25S W O L S £ Y.
mock inscriptions wfcre placed on the wails, one of whirl*
at least, proved prophetic :
" Non stabit ilia domus, alits fundata rapmis,
A»t ruet, aut alter raptor habebit earn.'*
By two bulls, the one dated 1524, the other 1525, WoU
soy obtained of pope Clement VII. leave to enrich his coU
lege by suppressing twenty-two priories and nunneries, the
revenues of which were estimated at nearly 2000/.; but on
hi* disgrace some of these were given by the king for other
purposes. The king's patent, after a preface paying high
compliments to the cardinal's administration, enables him
to build his college principally on the site of the priory of
St. Frideswide ; and the name, originally intended to be
" The College of Secular Priests*" was now changed to
Cardjnal College. The secular clergy in it were to be
denominated the " dean and canons secular of the cardinal
of York," and to be incorporated into one body, and sub-
sist by perpetual succession. He was also authorised to
settle upon it 2000/. a year clear revenue. By other pa*
tents and grants to the dean and canons, various church
livings were bestowed upon them, and the college was to
be dedicated to the praise, glory, and honour of the Holy
Trinity, the Virgin Mary, St. Frideswide, and All Sairiu.
With respect to the constitution of this college, there is
a considerable variation between the account given by the
historian of Oxford, and that by Leonard Hutten, canon
of Christ Church, in 1599, and many years sub-dean* His
manuscript, now in the possession of the college, and quoted
in the Monasticon, states that, according to Wolsey's de«»
sign, it was to be a perpetual foundation for the study of
the sciences, divinity, canon and civil law, also the arts,
physic, and polite literature, and for the continual per*
formance of divine service. The members were to .be, a
dean, and sixty regular canons, but no canons of the se*»
cond order, as Wood asserts.
Of these Wolsey himself named the dean and eighteea
of the canons. The dean was Dr. John Hygdep, pre-
sident of Magdalen college, and the canons first nonrir-
nated were all taken from the other colleges in Oxford,
and were men of acknowledged reputation in their day.
He afterwards added others, deliberately, and according
as he was able to supply the vacancies by men. of talents,
whom he determined to s^ek wherever they could be found.
Among bis latter appointment? frcr Cambridge, we find
W O L S E Y. 2$$
the names of Tyndal and Frith, the translators of the Bible*
and who had certainly discovered some symptoms of heresy
before this time. Cranmer and Parker, afterwards the
first and second protestant archbishops of Canterbury, were
also invited, but declined ; and the cardinal went on to
complete his number, reserving all nominations to himself
during his life, but intending to bequeath that power to
the dean and canons at his death. In this, however, he
was as much disappointed as in his hopes to embody a force
of learned men sufficient to cope with Luther and the fo*
reign reformers, whose advantage in argument he con*
ceived to proceed from the ignorance which prevailed
among the monastic clergy.
The society, as he planned it, was to consist of one hiirjf
dred and sixty persons, according to Wood, or omitting
the forty canons of the second order, in the enumeration
of whom Wood was mistaken, one hundred and forty-six;
but no mention could yet be made of the scholars who
were to proceed from his school at Ipswich, although, had
he lived, these would doubtless have formed a part of the
society, as the school was established two years before hh
fall. This constitution continued from 1525 to 1529-30,
when he was deprived of his power apd property, and for
two years after it appears to have been interrupted, if not
dissolved. It is to his honour that in his last correspond*
ence with secretary Cromwell and with the king, when all
worldly prospects were about to close upon him, he pleaded
with great earnestness, and for nothing so earnestly,, afs
that his majesty would be pleased to suffer his college at
Oxford to go on. What effect this, had, we know not, but
the urgent entreaties of the members of the society, and of
the university at large, were at length successful, while at
the same time the king determined to deprive Wolsey of
all merit in the establishment, and transfer the whole to
himself. The subsequent history of Christ church it would
be unnecessary to detail in this place.
An impartial life of cardinal Wolsey is perhaps still a de-
sideratum in% English biography*. Cavendish is minute
and interesting in what he relates of the cardinal's domestic
history, but defective in dates and arrangement, and not
altogether free from partiality ; which, however, in one so
* A life of Wolsey bat indeed been recently published by Mr. Gait, which
the editor hat not yet had an opportunity of perusing.
S'2 *
260 W O L S t * .
«
near to the cardinal, may perhaps be pardoned, Fiddes i*
elaborate, argumentative, and Upon the whole osefql, as art
extensive collector of facts and authorities ; but be wrote
for a special purpose, and has attempted, what no man can
effect, a portrait of his hero free from those vices and fail-
ings of which it is impossible to acquit him. Grove, with
all the aid of Cavendish, Fiddes, and even Shakspeare,
whose drama he regularly presses into the service, is a
heavy and injudicious -compiler, although he gives so much
of the cardinal's contemporaries, that bis volumes' may be
consulted with advantage as a series of general annals of
the time. But Cavendish, on whom all who have written
on the actionjs of Wolsey, especially our modern histo-
rians, have relied, has been the innocent cause of some of
their principal errors. Cavendishes work remained in ma-
nuscript, of which several copies are still extant, until the
civil wars, when it was first printed under the title of '/The
Negotiations of Thomas Wolsey, &c." 1641, 4to, and the
chief object of the publication was a parallel between the
cardinal and archbishop Laud* in order to reconcile the
public to the murder of that prelate. That this object
might be the better accomplished, the manuscript was mu-
tilated and interpolated without shame or scruple, and no
pains having been taken to compare the printed edition
with the original, the former passed for genuine above a
century, nor until very lately has the work been presented
to the public a» the author left it, in Dr. Wordsworth's
" Ecclesiastical Biography. *
WOMOCK (Lawrence), an English prelate, was a na-
tive of Norfolk, born in 1612, and the son of Lawrence
Wornock, B. D. rector of Lopham and Fersfield in that
county. He was admitted pensioner of Corpus Cbristi,
Cambridge, July 4, 1629, and in October following was
•chosen a scholar of sir Nich. Bacon's foundation. He took
the degree of A. B. in 1632, was ordained deacon Sep*.
21, 1634, and proceeded A. M. in 1639. He is supposejd
to have succeeded his father in the living of Lopham upoti
.his diocese in 1642, but was ejected by the Norfolk com-
mittee for the examination of those who we're deemed scan-
dalous ministers, and appears to have beep afterwards im-
prisoned for his principles of religion and loyalty, and to
have suffered extreme hardships. After the restoration,
l Fidde#»t Mid Qrorb't Lives.— Chalmers's Hist, of Oxford.
W O M O C K. , 261
however, he was promoted by letter* mandate to the de-
gree of 0. D. and made both archdeacon of Suffolk, Sept*
8, 1660, and a prebendary of Ely. In 1662 be was pre-
sented to the rectory of Horningsbeath in Suffolk, and in
1663 to that of Box ford in the same county. He was at
length promoted, but late in life, to the bishopric of St.
David's, Nov. 11, 1683, a preferment which, owing to his
short continuance in it, was detrimental to his relations*
He died March 12, 1685, aged seventy-three, and was
Juried near the remains of his only daughter in the south
aile of the church of St. Margaret, Westminster, where, on
a small compartment affixed to the pillar next the west end,
is an inscription to his memory,
He is said to have been a man of wit and learning, and
possessed of a very noble library. He was attached with
much firmness to the constitution in church and state, and
rejected all compromise with the principles of the dissen-
ters. He took an active part in the controversies of the
times, and was esteemed an antagonist worth contending
with. ' His chief publications, besides some single sermons,
were, " Beaten Oyle for the lamps of the Sanctuarie,"
Lond. 1641, 4to, in defenceof the liturgy. " The Exami-
nation of Tilenus before the Triers," London, 16&8, 8vo.
" Arcana Dogmatum Anti-RetnomtrantiunV 1659, against
Baxter, Hickman, and the Calvinists. " The Result of
false Principle*," in several dialogues, published anony-
mously, 1661, 4to. " Uniformity re-asserted," 1661. "The
Solemn League and Covenant arraigned and condemned,"
Lond. 1661, 4to. " An Antidote to cure the Calamities*
of their trembling for fear of the Arke," Lond. 166S, 4to.
"The Verdict upon the Dissenters1 plot," 1 6&1, 8vo. "Two
Letters containing a farther justification of the Church of
England," Lond. 1682. " Suffragiam Protestantiurn, where-
in our governors are justified in their impositions and pro-
ceedings against dissenters. Meisner also, and the verdict
rescued from the cavils and seditious sophistry, of Dr.
Whitby's Protestant Reconciler," Lond. 1683,, 8V0.1
i WOOI> (Anthony), an eminent English antiquary and
biographer, was the son of Thomas Wood, bachelor of arts
and of the civil law ; and was born at Oxford, Deceipber
17, 1652* He was sent to New-college school in that city
* Eat her Calamkes, or followers of Mr. Calamy.
i Masters'! C.C.C.C.
~
362 WOOD.
;n 1641 ; and three y£ars after removed to the free-school
at Thame in Oxfordshire, where he continued till his ad-
mission at Merton, 1647. His mother in vain endeavoured
to prevail on him to follow some trade or profession ; his
prevailing turn was to ^antiquity : " heraldry, music, and
painting, he says, did so much crowd upon him, that he
Could not avoid them; and he could never give a reason
why he should delight in those studies more than others ;
so prevalent was nature, mixed with a generosity of mind,
and a hatred to all that was servile, sneaking, or advanta-
/ tageous, for lucre-sake." He took the degree of B.A.
1652, and M. A. in 1655, As he resided altogether at Ox-
ford, he perused all the evidences of the several colleges
and churches, from which he compiled his two great worfcs,
and assisted all who were engaged in the like designs ; at
the same time digesting and arranging all the papers he
perused ; thus doing the cause of antiquity a double ser-
vice. His drawings preserved many things which soon
after were destroyed. In 1663, he began to lay the foun~
dation of " Historia & Antiquitates Universitatis Oxonien-
sis ;-' which was published in 1674, in 2 vols, folio. The
first contains the antiquities of the university in general;
find the second those of the particular colleges. This work
was written* by the author in English, and so well esteemed
that the university procured it to' be translated into Latin,
t\te language in which it was published. The author spent
tight years about it, and was, as we are told, at the pains
to extract it from the bowels of antiquity. Of the Latin
translation, Wood himself has given an account. He tells
Vfo that Dr. Fell, having provided one Peers, a bachelor of
arts of Christ-church, to translate it, sent to him for some
of the English copy, and set the translator to' work ; who,
however, was some time before he could make a version to
^is mind. u But at length having obtained the knack/'
says Wood, "he went forward with the work; yet all the
proofs, that came from the press, went through the doc-
tor's hands, which he would .correct, alter, or dash out, or
put in what he pleased ; which created a great deal of
trouble to the composer and author, but there was no help,
fie was a great man, and carried all things at his pleasure
so much, that many looked upon the copy as spoiled and
vitiated by him. Peers was a sullen, dogged, clownish, and
perverse, fellow ; and when he saw the author concerned
at the altering of his copy, he woujd alter it the more, and
WOOD. ' 263,
study to put things in that might vefc him, and yet please
his dean, Dn. Fell." And he afterwards complains, how
44 Dr. Fell, who printed the book at bis own charge, took '
so much liberty of putting in and out what he pleased, that
the author was so far from dedicating or presenting the
book to any one, that he would scarcely own it." Among
the " Genuine Remains of Barlow, bishop of Lincoln, pub-
lished by sir Peter Pen in 1693," 8vo, are two letters of
that prelate, relating to this work. In the first letter we
have the following passage : " What you say of our late
antiquities is too true. We are alarmed by many letters,
not only of false Latin, but false English too, and many bad
characters cast on good men ; especially oh the Anti-Armi-
niaris, who are all made seditious persons,* schismatics, if
Hot heretics: nay, our first reformers are made Janatics.
This they tell me ; and our judges of assise, now in town,
say no less. I have not read one leaf of the book yet; but
I see I shall be necessitated to read it over, that I jtnay
with my own eyes see the faults, and (so far as I am able)
endeavour the mending of them. Nor do I know any
other way but a new edition, with a real correction of all
faults ; and a declaration, that those miscarriages cannot
justly be imputed to the university, as indeed they cannot*
but to the passion and imprudence, if not impiety, of oito
or two, who betrayed the trust reposed in them in the. ma-
naging the edition of that book.'* In the second Letter,
lifter taking notice that the translation was made by the
order and authority of the dean of Christ-church ; that not
Only the Latin, but the history itself, is in many things
ridiculously false ; and then producing passages as proofs
of both ; be concludes thus ; " Mr. Wood, the compiler of
those antiquities, was himself too favourable to papists ;
«bd has often complained to me, that at Christ-church
some things were put in which neither were in his original
copy, nor approved by him. The truth is, not only the
Latin, but also the matter of those antiquities, being erro-
neous in several things, may prove scandalous, acid give
our adversaries some occasion to censure, not only the uni-
versity, but the church of England and our reformation.
Sure I am, that the university had no hand in composing
or approving those antiquities ; and therefore the errors *
^wfaich are in them cannot de Jure be imputed to the uni-
versity,'but must lie upon Christ-church and the composer
of them." This work, however, is now in a great measure
264 WOO D.
rescued from misapprehension by the publication of Wood's
MS. in English by the rev. John Gutch, 3 vol&.*4to.
Mr. Wood afterwards undertook his more important work,
which was published in 1691, folio ; and a second edition
in 1721, folio, with this title: " Athenae Oxonienses. An
exact history of all the writers and bishops who have had
their education in the most ancient and famous university
of Oxford, from the fifteenth year of king Henry the se-r
venth, A.D. 1500, to the author's death in November,
1695; representing the birth, fortune, preferment, and
death of all those authors and prelates, the great accidents
of their lives, and the fate and ctiaracter of their writings.
To which are added, the Fasti,' or annals of the said univer-
sity. In two volumes. The second edition,, very much
corrected and enlarged ; with the addition of above 50Q
new lives from the author's original manuscript." Jmparr
tiality and veracity being qualities so essential in ar> histo-
rian, that all other qualities without them cannot make a
history good for any thing, Wood has taken sqme pains to
prove, that these great qualities were not wanting in him;
and for that purpose thought it expedient to prefix to his
work the following curious account of himself. " As, to the
author himself/' says he, " he is a person who delights to
converse more with the dead than with the living, and has
neither interest with, nor inclination to flatter or disgrace,
any man, or any community of men, of whatever denomi-
nation. He is such a universal lover of all mankind, ^bat-
he could wish there was such a standing measure of merit
and honour agreed upon among them all, that there might
be no cheat put upon readers and writers in the business
of commendations. But, since every one will have a double
balance herein, one for himself and bis own party, and ano-
ther for his adversary and dissenters, all he can do is, to*
amass and bring together what every side thinks will make
best weight for themselves. Let posterity hold the scales
, and judge accordingly; mum cuique dtcus posttritas repen-
dat. To conclude : the reader is desired to know, that
this Herculean labour had beep more proper for a head
or fellow of a college, or for a public professor or office**
of the most noble university of Oxford to have undertaken
and consummated, than the author, who never enjoyed any
place or office therein, or can justly say that be hath eaten
the bread of any founder. Also, that it had been a great
deal more fit for one who pretends to be a virtuoso, and to
WOOD. 265
know all men*; anil all things that are transacted; or for one
who frequents much society in common rooms, at public
6res, in coffee-houses, assignaiipns, clubs, &c. where the
characters of men and their works are frequently discussed ;
but the author, alas ! is so far from frequenting such com-
pany and topics, that he is as it were dead to the world,
and utterly unknown in person to the generality vf scholars
in Oxon. He is likewise so great an admirer of a solitary
and retired life, that he frequents no assemblies of the said
university, hath no companion in bed or at board, in his
studies, walks, dr journeys; nor holds communication with
any, unless with some, and those very few, of generous and
noble spirits, that have in some measure been promoters
and eocouragers of this work: and, indeed, all things con-
sidered, he is but a degree different from an ascetic, as
spending all or most of his time, whether by day or night,
in reading, writing, and divine. contemplation. However,
he presumes, that, the less his company and acquaintance
is, the more impartial his endeavours will appear to the
ingenious and learned, to whose judgments only he sub-
mits them and himself."
But, as unconnected as Wood represents himself with
all human things and persons, it is certain that he had his
prejudices and attachments, and strong ones too, for cer-
tain notions and systems; and these prejudices and at-
tachments will always be attended with partialities for or
against those who shall be found to favour or oppose such
notions or systems. They had their influence upon Wood,
who, though he always spoke to the best of h& judgment,
and often with great truth and exactness, yet sometimes
gave way to prejudice and prepossession. Among other
freedoms, he took some with thfe earl of Clarendon, th^ir
late chancellor, which exposed him to the censure of the
university. He had observed in the life of judge Glynne,
that " after the restoration of Charles II. he was made his
eldest serjeant at law, by the corrupt dealing of the then
chancellor," who was the earl of Clarendon : for which
expression, chiefly, the succeeding earl preferred an ac-
tion in the vice-chancellor's court against him for de-
famation of his deceased father. The issue of the process
was a hard judgement given against the defendant ; which,
to be made the more public, was put into the Qazette in
these words: " Oxford, July 31, 1693. On the 29th in-
stant, Anthony Wood was condemned in the vice-chancel*
266 WOO D.
lor's court of the university of Oxford, for having written
and published, in the second volume of his bobk, entitled
* Athens Oxonienses,' divers infamous libels against the
right honourable Edward late earl of Clarendon, lord high
chancellor of England, and chancellor of the said univer-
sity ; and was therefore banished the said university, until
such time as he shall subscribe such a public recantation
as the judge of the court shall approve of, and give secu-
rity not to offend in the like nature for the future : and his
said book was therefore also decreed to be burnt before the
public theatre ; and on this day it was burnt accordingly,
and public programmas of his expulsion are already affixed
in the three usual places." An historian who has recorded
this censyre says, that it was the more grievous to the
blunt author, because it seemed to come from a party of
men whom he had the least disobliged. His bitterness had
been against the Dissenters ; but of all the zealous Church-
men he had given characters with a singular turn of esteem
and affection. Nay, of the Jacobites, and even of Papists
themselves, he had always spoken the most favourable
things ; and therefore it was really the greater mortification
to him, to feel the storm coming from a quarter where he
thought he least deserved, and might least expect it. For
the same reason, adds the historian, this correction was
some pleasure to the Presbyterians, who believed there was
a rebuke due to him, which they themselves were not able
to pay. Wood was animadverted upon likewise by Burnet,
in his " Letter to the bishop of Litchfield and Coventry,
concerning a book of Anthony Harmer (alias Henry Whar-
ton, called ' A Specimen of some Errors and Defects in
the History of the Reformation,' &c." upon which, in
1693, he published a vindication of himself, which is re-
printed before the second edition of his " Athens Oxoni-
enses."
As a collector Mr. Wood deserves highly of posterity \
indeed we know not any man to whom English biography
is so much indebted, although we may allow, at the same
time, that he is deficient in judgment and style. His er-
rors, in other respects, have been corrected, and many
valuable additions made, from genuine authorities, in the
new edition (of which two volumes, quarto, have already
been published), by Philip Bliss, Fellow of St John's-college.
Mr. Wood died at Oxford Nov. 29, 1695, of a retention
of urine, under which he lingered above a fortnight; The
WOOD.
267
circumstances of his death are recorded in a letter of Dr.
Arthur Charlett, rector of University-college, to archbishop
Tenison : this letter, which was published by Hearne, in
the appendix to his edition of. " Johannis Confratris et Mo-
nachi Glastoniensis Chronica," Oxon. 1726, illustrates th6,
character of this extraordinary person, by minutely de-
scribing his behaviour at the most important and critical of
ail seasons. He left his papers and books to the charge of
Dr. Charlett, Mr. Bisse, and Mr. (afterwards bishop) Tan-
ner, to be placed in the Ashmolean library. '
WOOD (Robert), a polite scholar, and Under-Secre-
tary of state in 1764, has a right to a place here, for his
Very curious " Essay on the original Genius of Homer/*
, Of the particulars of his life, the proper subject for our
pages, we reluctantly confess ourselves ignorant; but shall
observe, that in 1751, he made the tour of Greece, Egypt,
and Palestine, in company with Mr. Dawkins and Mr. Bou-
verie ; and at his return published a splendid work, in folio,
entitled *' The Ruins of Palmyra, otherwise Tedmor in the
Desert," being an account of the ancient,and modern state
of. that place ; with a great number of elegant engravings
of its ruins by Fourdrinier, from drawings made on the spot.
This was followed by a similar work respecting Balbec.
Speaking of the abovementioned friends/ he says, " Had I
been so fortunate as to have enjoyed their assistance in
arranging and preparing for the public the substance of our
marly friendly conversations on this subject (Homer) I
should be less anxious about the fate of the following work:
but, whatever my success may be in an attempt to contri-
bute to the amusement of a Vacant hour, I am happy to
think, that, though I should fail to answer the expecta-*
tions of public curiosity, I am sure to satisfy the demands
of private friendship ; and that, acting as the only sur-
vivor and trustee for the literary concerns of my late fellow-
travellers, I am, to the best of my judgment, carrying
into execution the purpose of men for whose memory I
shall ever retain the greatest veneration ; and though I may
do injustice to those honest feelings which urge me to this
ptbus task, by mixing an air of compliment in an act of
duty, yet I must not disown a private, perhaps an idle con-:
solation* which, if it be vanity to indulge, it would be iife-
. ' Life written by himself, and other information prefixed to the first volume
of Mr. Bliss's edition, and so copious as to render every other reference uu«
necessary* »
268 WOO,D.
gratitude to suppress, viz. that, as long as my imperfect
descriptions shali preserve from oblivion the present state
of the Troade, and the remains of Balbec and Pa] my r a, so
long will it be known that Dawkins and Bouverie were my
friends."
Mr. Wood was meditating future publications relating to
other parts of his tour, especially Greece, when he was
called upon to serve his country in a more important sta-
tion, being appointed under-secretary of state in 1759, by
the earl of Chatham ; during* the whole of whose pros-
perous administration, as well as in those of his two imme-
diate successors, he continued in that situation.
Mr. Wood had drawn up a great part of his " Essay oa
Homer" in the life-time of Mr. Dawkins, who wished tit to
be made public. " But," says Mr. Wood, " while I was
preparing it for the press, I had the honour of being called,
to a station, which for some years fixed my whole altera-
tion upon objects of so very different a nature, that it be-
came necessary to lay Homer aside, and to reserve the far-
ther consideration of my subject for a time of -more lei-
sure. However, in the course of that active period, the
duties of my situation engaged me in an occasional atten-
dance upon a nobleman (the late earl Granville), who,
though he presided at his majesty's councils, reserved
some moments for literary amusement. . His lordship was
so partial to this subject, that I seldom had the honour of
receiving his commands on business, that he did not lead
the conversation to Greece and Homer. Being directed to
wait upon his lordship a few days before he died, with the
J)reliminary articles of the treaty of Paris, I found him $o
anguid, that I proposed postponing my business for another
time; but he insisted that I should stay, saying, "it could
hot prolong his life, to neglect his duty :" and, repeating a
passage out of Sarpedon's speech, dwelt with particular
emphasis on a line which recalled to his mind, the distin-
guishing part he had taken in public affairs. His lordship
Then repeated the last word several times with a c^lrn and
determined resignation ; and, after a serious pause of some
minutes, he desired, to hear the treaty read ; to which be
listened with gr^at attention ; and recovered spirits Qnpugh
to declare the approbation of a dying statesman (I use his
own words) on the most glorious war, and most honourable
peace, this country ever saw."
WOOD. 269
' Mr; Wood also left behind him several MSS. relating to
his travels, but not sufficiently arranged to afford any
hopes of their being given to the public. The house in
which he lived in Putney is situated between the roads
which lead to Wandsworth and Wimbledon, and became
the residence of his widow. Mr. Wood- purchased it of
the executors of Edv\ard,Gibbon, esq. whose son, the cele-
brated historian, was born there. The farm and pleasure-
grounds which adjoin the house are very spacious, contain-
ing near fourscore acres, and surrounded by a gravel-walk,
which commands a beautiful prospect of London and the
adjacent country. Mr. Wood was buried in the cemetery
Dear the upper road to Richmond. On his monument
is the following inscription, 'drawn up by the hon. Horace
Walpole, earl of Orford, at the request of his widow :
"To the beloved memory of Robert Wood, a man of
supreme benevolence, who was born at the castle of tti-
verstown near Trim, in the county of Meath, and died
Sept. 9, 1771, in the fifty-fifth* year of his age; and of
Thomas Wood his son, who died August 25th, 4772, in his
ninth year; Ann, their once happy wife and mother, now
dedicates this melancholy and inadequate memorial of her
affection and grief. The beautiful editions of Balbec and
Palmyra, illustrated by the classic pen of Robert Wood,
supply a nobler and more lasting monument, add will sur-
vive those august remains." *
WOODFORD (Samuel), a divine and poet, eldest son
•of Robert Woodford, of Northampton, ggnt. was born in
tfte parish of All-hallows on the Wall, London, April 15,
1636; became a commoner of Wad ham college in 1653 ;
took one degree in arts in 1656 ; and in 1658 returned to
the Inner Temple, where he was chamber- fellow with the
poet flatihan. In 1660, he published a poem " On the
rettlrh 'of king Charles H." After that period, he lived
first at Aldbrook, and afterwards at Bensted in Hampshire,
in a married and secular condition, and was elected F, R.'S.
in Nov. 1664. He took orders from bishop Morley, And
w$s soon after presented by Sir Nicolas Stuart, bart. to the
rectory of Hartley- Maudet in Hampshire. He was installed
prebend of Chitbesjer May 27, 1676 ; made D. D. by the
diploma of archbishop Sancroft in 1677; 'and prebendary
;©f Winchester, Nov. 8, 1680, by the favour qf his great
1 Nichols'! Bowyser.— -Tyson*** Environs, vol. I.
270 WOODFORD.
patron j the bishop of that diocese. He died in 1700* His
poems, which have some merit, are numerous. His " Pa**
ra phrase on the Psalms, in five books/* was published in
1667, 4to, and again in 1678, 8vo. This "Paraphrase,"
which was written in the Pindaric and other various sorts of
verse, is commended by R. Baxter in the preface to his
" Poetical Fragments,9' 1681 ; and is called by others "an
incomparable version," especially by his friend Flatman,
who wrote a Pindaric ode on it, and a copy of verses on
Woodford's " Paraphrase on the Canticles," 1679, 8vo.
With this latter paraphrase are printed, 1. "The Legend
of Love, in three cantos." 2. " To the Muse," a Pindaric
ode. 3. " A Paraphrase upon some select Hymns of the
New and Old Testament." 4. " Occasional compositions
in English rhymes," with some translations out of Latin,
Greek, and Italiau, but chiefly out of the last ; some of
which compositions and translations were before falsely
published by a too-curious collector of them, from very
erroneous copies, against the will and knowledge of their
author. Dr. Woodford complains, that several of his trans-
lations of some of the moral odes had been printed after
the same incorrect manner.1 /
WOODHEAD (Abraham), whom Dr. Whitby pro-'
nounces " the most ingenious and solid writer of the Ro-
man (catholic) party," and who merits some notice from his
name occurring so frequently in the popish controversy at
the latter end of the seventeenth century, was the son of
John Woodhead of Tbornhill in Yorkshire, and was born
in 1608 at Meltbam in the parish of Abbersbury, or Am-
btiry, in that county. He bad his academical education
ia University college, Oxford, where he took his degrees
in arts, was elected fellow in 1633, and soon after entered
into holy orders. In 1641 he served the office of proctor,
and then set out for the continent as travelling tutor to
some young gentlemen of family who had been his pupils
in college. While at Rome he lodged with the duke of
Buckingham, whom he taught mathematics, and is sup-
posed about the same Jtirne to have embraced the commu-
nion of the church of Rome, although for a long time he
kept this a profound secret. On his returu to England he
had an apartment in the duke of Buckingham's house in
the Strand, and was afterwards entertained in lord Capel'?
1 Ath. Ox. vol. II. — Nichols's Poems*
W O O D H h A D. 27*
family. In 1648 be was deprived of bis fellowship by the
parliamentary visitors, but merely on the score of absence,
and non-appearance, when called. After the restoration
be was. reinstated in his fellowship, but finding it impos-
sible any longer to conform, be obtained leave to travel,
with the allowance of a travelling fellowship. Instead,,
however, of going abroad, be retired to an obscure resi-
dence at Hoxton near London, where he spent several
years, partly in instructing some young gentlemen of po-
pish families, and partly in composing bis works. Her*
he remained almost undiscovered, yptil a little while before
bis death, which happened at Hoxton, May 4, 1678. Hf,
was buried in St. Pancras church-yard, where there is a
monument to his memory.
Wood head was considered as one of the ablest contro-
versial writers, on the popish side, in his time, and some
protectants have paid respect to his abilities and candour*
Most of his works were printed at Mr. Obadiah Walker's
private press, and some of them have been attributed to
him. Wood gives a long list of about twenty-three articles,
some of which are translations. The principal of bis oriT
ginal writings is his " Guide in controversies," or more
tfullv, "A rational account of the doctrine of catholics,,
concerning the ecclesiastical guide iu controversies ofsreliT
gion: reflecting on the late writings of v protean tv par-
ticularly of archbishop Laud, and doctor Stil^ingfleet,.(o,i>
this subject; in four discourses;" under the' initials R. H,
1666,1667, and 1673, 4to. Wood adds, "Many stick not tQ
•ay, which is a wonder to me, vthat he was, the author of
" The Whole Duty of Man ;" and of all that goes lender the
name of that author." The protest,ant, writers with whom
be was involved in controvetsy, and in whose lives or writr
iogs his name occurs, were, Peter Heylyn, Stillingfleet,
archbishop Wake, Drs. Aldrxch, Smalridge, HarringtQn,
Tully, Hooper, aqd Whitby.1 . • ■ ,
WOODWARD (John), an eminent natural philosopher,
was descended from. a good family,, originally of Glouces-
tershire, and was born in Derbyshire, May 1, 1665. He
received the first part of bis education at a school in the
countty, where he made a considerable progress in the La-
tin aud Greek languages ; but his father designing him for
trade, hfe was taken from school, before he was sixteen
» Atfc. Ox, roU II.— Dodd's Ch. Hist.— Biog. Brit. art. Wake.
272 WOODWARD.
years old} and put apprentice, as is said, to a linen-draper*
in London. This way of life, however, was so contrary to
his natural thirst for knowledge and love of books, that he
quitted it in a few years, and devoted himself entirely to
literary pursuits. His studies Were directed to philoso-
phical objects, and the progress he made soon attracted
the notice of some persons of eminence in the learned
world. Amongst others he was honoured with the parti*
cular friendship of that distinguished scholar and physician
Dr. Peter Barwick, who was so p teased with his ingenuity
and industrious applica£ion, that he took> him under his
•immediate tuition in his own family. In this advantageous
situation he prosecuted his studies in philosophy, anatomy,
and physic, with the utmost ardour.
During his residence here, sir Ralph Dutton, who was
Dr. Barwick' s son-in-law, invited Mr. Woodward to accom*
pany the doctor on a visit to his seat at Sherborne, in Glou-
cestershire. He probably made some stay here, for we are
told that he was now first led to inquire into that branch of
natural philosophy, which became afterwards the favourite
object of bis studies, and the foundation of the fame which
he acquired. The country about Sherborne, and the neigh*
bouring parts of Gloucestershire, to which he made fre-
quent excursions, abounded with stone; and there being
quarries laid open almost every where, he was induced to
visit them, and to examine the nature and condition of the
stone. In these visits he was struck with the great variety
of sea-shells, and other marine productions, with, which the
sand of most of this stone was incorporated ; and being en-
couraged by the novelty, and as he judged, the singular
importance of this speculation, he resolved to pursue it
through the remote parts of the kingdom. In consequence
of this resolution, he travelled throughout almost all Eng-
land, in order to inform himself of the present condition of
the earth, and all bodies contained in it, as far as either
grottoes, caverns, mines, quarries, &c. led him into a know-
ledge of the interior, and as far as his best observations
could extend in respect to the exterior surface, and such
productions as any where occurred, plants, insects, sea,
river, and land-shells. He directed his attention likewise
to the fluids ; as well those within the surface of the earth,
the water of mines, grottoes, caverns, &c. as those upo*
the surface, the sea, rivers, and springs; and in making
these observations, he entered every curious circumstance*
W O O D W A RiD, 373
with great care, in a journal. When he had finished these
researches, and had returned to London, he would gladly
have gone to the continent on the same pursuit, hut was
prevented by, the war which at that time disturbed the quiet '
of Europe. In order, however, to supply this defect as far
as possible, be applied to gentlemen who had travelled, and
were likely to give him information on the subject of his
inquiries; and he also drew up a list of questions upon this
subject, which he sent off to all parts of the world, where-
ever either himself, or any of his acquaintance, had any
friends resident; the result of which was, that in time he
was abundantly satisfied, that the circumstances after which
he inquired, were much the same every where. Being
now prepared with information, and,, as it will appear, not
unprovided with a theory, he published in 1695, in 1 vol.
Svq, " An Essay towards a natural history of the Earth and
terrestrial bodies, especially minerals ; as also of the sea,
rivers, and springs. With an account of the universal de-
luge, and of the effects that it bad upon the earth." He
called it an " Essay,'* because it was designed, as he said,
to be followed by a large work upon the same subject, of
which this was but a specimen.
Not only the account of the deluge in Genesis, and the
traditions io> the same effect preserved by all ancient na-
tions, but the abundant remains of sea-shells and coral,
found at great distances from the sea, at great heights, and
intermixed with various rocks, have induced mineralogists*
without exception, to agree that at some former period the
whole of this earth was covered with the sea. Various hy-
pothetical explanations of the way in which this deluge
took place, have been from time to time published, and
several of these are to be found in the Philosophical Trans-
actions* It is not necessary to take notice of the old hy-
pothesis of Burnet, who conceived that the ante-diluvian
wdrld consisted of a thin, smooth c^ust spread over the
whole sea, and that this crust breaking occasioned the de-
luge, .and the present uneven surface of the earth ; nor of
v Whiston, who ascribed the «deluge to the effect of the jtaij
of a cornet^ because those opinions have many years ago
lost all. their supporters. Nor is any attention at present
paid to the hypothesis of Buffon, who conceived the earth
to have been splintered from the sun by the blow of a
comet, and accounted for the deluge by suppositions equally
arbitrary, and inconsistent with the phenomena. Dr.
Vol- XXXII, T
274 W 6 6 D W A R D.
Wd6d ward was the first writer Whd acquired a splendid,
reputation by hit tbedty ; and his opinions, though not
always correct, generally prevailed in bis titae, and after.
In the work above rtientioned, which he afterwards consi-
derably augmented and Unproved, after refuting the hy-
p6theses of his predecessors, he proceeds to shew, that
the present state of the earth is the consequence of the
universal deluge ; that the waters took up and dissolved all
the minerals and rocks, and gradually deposited them along1
with the sea-shells; and he affirms that all rocks lie in the
ordef of their specific gravity. Although this theory has
long lost its authority, several of the positions which he
laid down continue still to find a place in every theory
which has succeeded him.
In the mean time Woodward's " Essay" occasioned no
small controversy. JSotne of its errors were pointed Out. by
Dr. Martin Lister, in three distinct pieces; and Mr. Ro~
binstih, a clergyman of Cumberland, soon after published
sortie '< Observations on the natural history of the world of
matter, and the world of life," in Which be accused Wood-
ward of plagiarism, and mentioned the authors from wham,
as he said, he had borrowed most of his notions. But these
different works received an answer in a single treatise pub-
lished by Mr. Harris, in 1697 ; and the dispute was cem->
promised that same year, in & pamphlet written by £>r. Ar- <-
buthnot, in -which, after an impartial examination of Wood-'
ward's hypothesis, he decided that though it seemed liable
to taany just exceptions, yet the whole was not to be ex*
ploded. Hitherto the author himself had made no reply to
any of the objections against his " Essay ;" but in 1704, a
Latin translation of it being published at Zurich, he was
led into a controversy, by letters on the subject, with sotee
of his learned correspondents abroad, and particularly witto
the celebrated Leibnitz. This controversy continued feeing
years, and when ended, a fresh attack was made on our
author's hypothesis, by Elias Came rati us, professor of
physic at Tubingen, in some Latin dissertations printed iti
1712. On this Dr. Woodward published hi 1714, " N*<-
turalis historia telluris illustrata et aucte," in the preface to
which he declares, that what had been urged by bis anta-
gonists, before Camerarius, was not of tueh force as tfc
deserve a distinct reply ; that every thing considerable in %
their objections was now proposed by CftttterarHlaj with
some additions of his own entirely new, and that the pre-
WOODWARD. 275
sent might be considered as a general answer. In this
work, therefore, he supplied the main defects and omissions
of his Essay, and endeavoured to vindicate his hypothesis.
The dispute with Camerarius was closed in a, very friendly
address from that learned professor, which was published
in the German Ephemerides in 1717, though not without
some intimation of his continuing still in his first senti-
ments. In 1726, Mr. Benjamin Holloway, F. R. S. having
translated the " Naturalis His tori a telluris" into English,
doctor Woodward readily embraced this opportunity of
strengthening bis opinion by some additional papers with
which he furnished the translator.
The connexion of all the circumstances of Dr. Wood-
ward's publication with each other, rendered it necessary
to give the above account of the whole in succession ; but
we must now return to other transactions in his progress
towards the reputation he bad acquired, and which was not
altogether unmixed. In the interval between his visit to
sir Ralph Hwtton, and the publication of his first " Essay,"
he bad been elected professor of physic in Gresham col-
lege, to which place he was recommended by some per-
sons of consequence in the learned world, and particularly
by Dr. Bar wick. This preferment, which he obtained in
1692, was soon followed by other honours. In 1693 he
-was elected a fellow of the Royal Society, and was fre-
quently afterwards one of their council. In 1695 he wa»
created M. D. by archbishop Tenispn, and in the following .
year he was admitted of Pembroke-hall, Cambridge, and
honoured with the same degree in that university. In 1608
he was admitted a candidate of the college of physicians,
and was chosen a fellow in 1702. '
In 1699 he published, in the Philosophical Transactions,
" Some thoughts and experiments concerning Vegetation."
These experiments have acquired great celebrity, and are
constantly referred, to by all writers on vegetable physi-
ology. They consist in putting sprigs of vegetables into
the mouths of phials filled with water, allowing them to
vegetate for some time, and then determining the quantity
of water which they have imbibed, and the quantity oif
weight which they have gained. The difference obviously
indicates the quantity of moisture exhaled by the plant.
About 1693, iSr. Woodward's attention was directed to an
object of a very different kind. He had purchased from
the museum of a deceased friend, a small, but very curious
T 2
276 WOODWARD.
«
ip»n. shield of a round form ; on the concave side of which
were represented, iu the upper part, the ruins of Rome
when burnt by the Gauls ; and below, the weighing out
the gold to purchase their retreat, together with the arrival
of Camillus, and flight of the Gauls ; and in the centre
appeared a grotesque mask with horns very large and pro-
minent ; the figures all executed in a spirited and beautiful
manner. Mr. Conyers, in whose collection this curiosity
was, bad purchased it of a brazier, who bought it among
some brass and iron fragments which came out of the ar-
moury in the Tower of London, near the end of Charles
II. 's reign. As soon as it' came into the possession of Dr.
Woodward, many inquisitive persons came to see it, and
M) order to enable others, who bad not that opportunity,
to form a judgment of it, he not only had several casts
made of it, but also, in 1705, had it engraven at Amster-
dam, on a copper-plate of the size of the original ; copies
of which were transmitted to many learned foreigners, for
their opinion. Antiquaries, however, could not agree as
to its age. The professors and other critics in Holland, in
genera), pronounced it antique ; but those in France thought
otherwise, and Woodward wrote against their opinion a
letter to the abbe Bignon, which is published by Dr. Ward
in the appendix to his " Lives of the Gresham Professors/'
Dodwell wrote a " Dissertatio de Parma equestri Wood-
wardiana," which was published l^y Hearne (See Hearne)
in 1713. Dodwell supposed this shield came out of some
public collection ; such as the Shield Walk in Whitehall-
palace, from Henry VIII.'s time to Charles I. Theophilus
Downes, fellow of Baliol college, differed from him as to'
the antiquity of this monument ; and after his death were
published, in two leaves, 8vo, his " De clypeo Woodwar-
diano stricture breves." Ainsworth abridged* DodwelPs
dissertation, and inserted it at the end of the " Museum
Woodwardianum," or catalogue of the doctor's library and
curiosities, sold by auction at Covent-garden in 1728. He
afterwards enlarged the piece, considered the objections, and
reprinted it with the title, " De Clypeo Camilli antiquo,"
&c. 1734, 8vo. Spanheim and Abr. Seller bad both begun
to write dissertations on it, but were prevented by death.
Ward was the last who made any remarks on it, and those
in favour of its antiquity ; but Moyle's objection to its ant-
tiquity from the ruins of an amphitheatre has. not been re*
moved by Dr. Ward. No, ancient artist, Mr. Gough ob-
.WOODWARD. 277
serves, could be so ignorant as to ascribe such buildings to
that period* At Dr. Woodward's sale, this shield was pur-
chased by Col. King, one of his executors, for 100/., and
at the sale of the colonel's effects, in 1768, it was sold to
Dr. Wilkinson for forty guineas, along with the letters, &c.
relating to it.
In 1707, Dr. Woodward published "An account of
some Roman urns, and other antiquities, lately digged up
near Bishopsgate ; with brief reflections upon the ancient
and present state of London, in a letter to sir C. Wren,"
&c. This was reprinted at London and Oxford, 1713 and
1723, 8vo, with a letter from the doctor to the editor. It
was printed first at the desire of sir Christopher, whose ob-
servations have since appeared in the <f Parentalia." Wren
could not he persuaded that the temple of Diana stood on
the scite of St. Paul's, though Woodward had prepared a
dissertation on her image dug up near that cathedral.
This dissertation, never printed, is now in the possession-
of the editor of this Dictionary.
In the midst of those researches into antiquity, Dr.
Woodward did not neglect his medical profession, although
it cannot be said that he was eminently successful. In 1 7 1 8
we find him involved in a controversy with two of the
greatest physicians of his time, Dr. Freind and Dr. Mead*
In a learned work which Dr. Freind published, about this
time, he had advanced several arguments in favour of
purging upon the access, of the second fever, in some dan-
gerous cases of the confluent small- pox. This, practice
was warmly opposed by Dr. Woodward, who, on the con-
trary, strenuously recommended the use of emetics in such
cases ; and in the following year printed his " State of
Physic and of Diseases, with an Inquiry into the Causes of
the late increase of them ; but more particularly of the
Small-pox. -With some considerations upon the new prac-
tice of purging in that disease :" &c. in Svo. This laid
the foundation of a bitter controversy ; and Dr. Mead re-
tained a sense of the injury, as he thought it, for many
years after, as appears from the preface to his treatise on
the small-pox ; where he gives a short history of the affair,
and also throws some personal reflections on Dr. Wood-
ward, which would have been inexcusable in the heat of
the controversy, and were certainly much more so near
thirty years after. Pope, Arbutbnot, and other wits, at*
tenipteu also to turn Dr. Woodward into ridicule, and there
378 WOODWARD.
appears to have been something of irascibility in his tem-
per, which afforded his enemies considerable advantage in
this way.
Dr. Woodward declined in his health a considerable
time before he died; and though he had all along continued .
to prepare materials for his large work, relating to the
Natural History of the Earth, yet it was never finished ;
but only some collections, said to have been detached from
it, were printed at different times, as enlargements upon
particular topics in his essay. He was confined first to his
house, and afterwards to his bed, many months before his
death. During this time, he not only drew up instructions
for the disposal of his books and other collections, but also
completed and sent to the press his " Method of Fossils,"
in English; and lived to see the whole of it printed, ex-
cept the last sheet. He died in Gresham-college April
25, 1728; and was buried in Westminster-abbey, where is
a monument to his memory. After his death, the two fol-
lowing works were published, 1. " Fossils of all kinds, di-
gested into a Method suitable to their mutual relation and
affinity," &c. Svo. 2. c< A Catalogue of Fossils in the
Collection of John Woodward, M. D." in 2 vols 8vo. By
his last will, he founded a lecture in the university of Cam-
bridge, to be read there upon his " Essay towards the Na-
tural History of the Earth, his Defence of it, his Discourse
of Vegetation, and his State of Physic ;" for which he or-
dered lands of 150/. per annum in South-Britain to be pur-
chased and conveyed to that university, and out of this a
hundred pounds per annum to the lecturer, who, after the
death of his executors Dixie Windsor, Hugh Bethel, Hi*
chard Graham, esqrs. and colonel Richard King, is to be
chosen by the archbishop of the province, the bishop of
the diocese, the presidents of the College of Physicians
and of the Royal Society, the two members of parliament,
and the whole senate of the university. This lecturer to.
be a bachelor ; to have no other preferment ; to read four
lectures a, year in English or Latin, of which one is to be
printed ; to have the custody of the two cabinets of fossils
given by the doctor to the university, to shew them three
days in each week gratis ; and to be allowed ten pounds
per, aonutn for making experiments and observations, aad
keeping correspondence with learned men. Some of these
conditions it would not be easy to fulfil, yet the p&efeqper-
ririp continues, and has been held by men of talents. Dr.
WOODWARD. $79
Conyers Middlemen was (be firat appointed to the office,
who opened the, lectures yviih an elegant Latin oration in
praise of (he founder, and upon the usefulness of his in-
stitution.
Or- Woodward left a great many manuscripts, enume-
rated by Dr. Ward, some of which he ordered to be burnt,
but others canje into the possession of his executor, colonel
Hiqbard King, and were sold in 1768 with the rest of the
colonel's collection. Dr. Woodward was in many respects
a FJsiQnary >n<J an enthusiast, but the extent of his inge-
nuity and learning cannot well be called in question, and
i^ ought not to be forgot that the circumstances of bis
yogth were discouraging, and that he had no help in bis
progress from academical instruction. 1
WOOLLETT (William), one of the most eminent of oiq-
dero engravers in England, was born at Maidstone, in Kant,
Aug. 27, 1735. Of his early history few particulars hav$
b$en preserved, and those mostly traditionary His father
W » thread-maker, and long time a foreman to Mr. Ro-
bert Pope. The family is said to have come originally
frpm Holland ; and there is a tradition that Wooltett's, great
grandfather escaped from the battle? fought by the parlia-
mentary forces against the royalists near JVIaidstone. Q*pr
grtist was educated at Maidstone under Mr §imon Qood*
wjn, wfro qsed to notice his graphic talents. Once haying
taken eta a slate the likeness of a schoolfellow named Burten-
#haw> who bad a prominent npse, his master desired him to
fipifb U QU paper, and preserved the drawing, fje was also
jflibf* habit of drawing the likenes&es of his father^ acquaint-
ances. His earliest production on copper was a portrait of
a Mr. Scott, of Maidstone, with a pipe in his ipouth.
These a^ perhaps trifles, but the) coippote all th»t is now
r£0)£mbered of Wooltett's -younger days His first at-
t^rppts having been seen by Mr Tinne>, an engraver, hp
took big) as an apprentice at the same thn/e with Mr. An-
thony Walker and Mr. Prown. tjis ns/e ii} his profession
W.a$ rapid, and much distinguished, for be brought the art
stf landscape engraving to great perJ&ction. With respect
to the grand and sublime, says Strutt, " jf 1 may be al-
lied the term in landscapes, tb,e whole world cauuot pro-
duce his equal." Woollett, boweyer, did not confine him-
1 lyard's Lives of the Gresbam Professors. — Bipg. Brit. — Thomson's Hist, of
tkt RoyaiSocisty. — Cough's Topography.
280 WOOLLET T.
self to landscapes, be engraved historical subjects and por-
traits with the greatest success. The world has done
ample justice to his memory, and the highest prices still
continue to be given for good impressions of all his prints,
but particularly of his *? Niobe" and its companion " Phae-
ton," his " Celadon and Amelia/7 and " Ceyx and Al-
cyone ;" and " The Fishery," all from Wilson, whose pecu-
liar happiness it was that his best pictures were put into the
hands of Woollett, »who so perfectly well understood and
expressed the very spirit of his ideas upon the copper.
To these we may add the portrait of Rubens, from Van-
dyke, and, what are in every collection of taste, his justly ;
celebrated prints from the venerable president of the aca-
demy, " The Death of General Wolfe," and « The Battle
of the Boyne."
Mr. Woollett died at his house, Upper Charlotte* street,
Rathbone-place, May 23, 1785, aged fifty ; and the re- '
cord of his death is given in these words : " To s*y he
was the first artist in his profession would be giving him his
least praise, for he was a good man. — Naturally modest
and amiable in his disposition, he never censured the works
of others, or omitted pointing out their merits ; his patience
under the continual torments of a most dreadful dfsorder
Upwards of nine months was truly exemplary ; and he died
as he had lived, at peace with all the world, in which he
never had an enemy. He has left his family inconsolable
for his death, and the public to lament the loss of a man
whose works (of which his unassuming temper never boast-
ted) are an honour to his country." An elegant monument
was afterwards put up to his memory in the cloisters, West-
minster abbey. *
WOQLSTON (Thomas), an English divine, very no-
torious in his day for the .pertinacity with which he pub-
lished the most dangerous opinions, was born in 1669, at
Northampton, where his father was a reputable tradesman.
After a proper education at a grammar-school, he was en-
tered of Sidney college, in Cam bridge, in 1685, where he
took both the degrees in arts, and that of bachelor of di-
vinity, and was chosen fellow of his college. From this
time, in conformity to the statutes of that society, he ap-
plied himself to the study of divinity; and entering into
* Strutt's Diet.— Some MS memorandums purchased at the late Mr. Alexan-
der's sale, by Mr. J. B. Nichols, and obligingly communicated to the editor.
WOOLSTON. 281
holy orders, soon, we are told, became distinguished and
esteemed for bis learning and piety. Of what sort the lat-
ter was, bis life will shew. . It appears that he had very
early conceived some of those notions which afterwards so
much degraded his character. His first appearance as an
author was in 1705, when he printed at Cambridge a work
entitled " The old Apology of the Truth for the Christian
Religion against the Jews and Gentiles revived," 8vo. The
design of this work, which is an octavo of near 400 pages,
is to prove that all the actions of Moses were typical of
Christ, and to shew that some of the fathers did not think
them* real, but typical relations of what was to come. < This
allegorical way of interpreting the scriptures of the Old
' Testament our author is said to have adopted from Origen,
whose works, however, he must have studied very inju-
diciously ; yet he became so enamouredof this method of ,
interpretation, that he not only thought it had been un-
justly neglected by the moderns, but that it might be use-
ful, as an additional proof of the truth of Christianity,
-He preached this doctrine first in the college chapel, and
afterwards before the university at St. Mary's, to the great
surprise of his audience. Yet, as his intentions seemed
to be good, and his character respected, and as he bad not
yet begun to make use of the indecent language which
disgraced his subsequent works, no opposition was raised ;
and when the volume appeared in print, though there
were some singular notions advanced, and a new manner
of defending Christianity proposed, yet there was nothing
that gave particular offence, and many things which shewed
great ingenuity and learning. He stilT continued to reside'
at Cambridge, applying himself indefatigably to his studies,
in a quiet and retired way, until 1720, when he published
a Latin dissertation entitled " De Pontii Pilati ad Tiberium
Epistola circa res Jesu Christi gestas ; per Mystagogum,"
8vo, in which he endeavours to prove that Pontius Pilate
wrote a letter to Tiberius Cesar concerning the works of
Christ ; but that the epistle delivered down to us under
that name among the writings of the fathers, was forged.
The same year he published another pamphlet in Latin,
with the title of " Origen is Adamantii Kenati Epistola ad
Doctores Whitbeium, Waterlandium, Whistoniutn, alios-
que literatos hujus saeculi disputatores, circa fidefn vere
orthodoxam et scripturarum interpretationem ;" and, soon
after, a second epistle with the same title* The rage of
aw w O O h S T Q N.
allegorizing tbq letter of th* holy scriptures into mystery,
villi which this writer was incurably infected, began now '
to shew itself more openly to the world than it had hitherto
done. In 1720 and 1721, he published two letters to J)r#
Rennet, rector of §t. Giles's, Cripplegate, London; op*
iipon this question, u Whether the people called quakers
do not the nearest of any other sect of religion regerab)*
the primitive Christians in principles and practice ?" by
Aristobulus ; the other, " In defence of the Apostles and
Primitive Fathers of the Church, for their allegorical in-
terpretation of the law of Moses, against the ministers, of
the letter and literal commentators of this age;'1 and., soon
after, be himself published an answer to these two letters;
in all which his view appears to have been rather to t>e
severe upon the clergy than to defend either apostles,
fathers, or quakers. At what time be left college does not '
appear, but he bad about this time absented himself from
it beyond the time limited by the statutes. The society
and his friends, however, compassionating bis case, ?od
judging it to be in some degree the effect of a bodily dis-
temper, allowed him the revenues of his fellowship for a
support. The supposition hurt his pride, and he went
directly to Cambridge to convince the gentlemen of bis
College that he laboured under no disorder, and as he at
the same time refused to reside, be lost his fellowship.
After this his brother, an alderman of Northampton,
allowed him thirty poiyids a year, besides other occasional
assistance;, and on this be supported himself, being a man
pf great temperance, in London. In 1722 he published a
piece entitled " The egsxt fitness of the time in which
Christ was manifested in the Flesh, demonstrated by rea-
son, against the objections of the old Gentiles, and of
modern Unbelievers." This was vvell enough received, as
shewing much learning displayed in a temperate manner,
and having in it some valuable remarks. It was written
twenty years before its publication, and delivered as a
public exercise both in Sidney college chapel, and in St.
Mary's church, as Woolston 'himself observes in his dedi-
cation pf it to Dr. Fisher, master of Sidney college. But
lie did not long abstain from his intended attack on the
ctargy 8J1<I religion. In 1723 and 1724 came out his four
" Free Gifts to the Clergy," and his own " Answer" to
them, in five separate pamphlets; in which he attacks the
clergy with the greatest contempt,' and, as it would appear,
WOOLSTON.
<m
without any provocation. Yet, though he treated tbem in
thif manner, he expressed a very great regard for religion ;
and did what some thought more1 than necessary to defend
it, when in 1726 he published " A Defence of the Thun- '
dering Legion, against Mr. Moyle's Dissertations.9'
The "Four free gifts" were scarcely published, when,
the controversy with Collins going on at this time, Mr.
Woolston, under pretence of acting the part of an im-
partial inquirer, published his " Moderator between an In-
fidel and Apostate/9 and two "Supplements to the Mode-
rator.'9 In these pieces, he pursued his allegorical scheme,
to the exclusion of the letter; and, with regard to the .
miracles of Christ, not only contended for sublime and
mystical interpretations of them, but also asserted that
they were not real, or ever actually wrought. As he con-
ducted this attempt with greater rudeness and insolence
than any of those that had appeared before him, his pre-
sumption was not likely to be unnoticed in a Christian
country, and he was prosecuted by the attorney-general ;
but the prosecution was stopped at the intercession of Mr,
Whiston* In 1727, 1728, 1729, and 1730, were pub-
lished bis " Six Discourses on the Miracles of Christ,"
and his two " Defences" of them. The six discourses are
dedicated to six bishops : Gibson, of London ; Chandler,
of Litchfield; Smalbroke, of St. David's ; Hare, of Chi-
chester; Sherlock, of Bangor; and Potter, of Oxford, who
are all treated with the utmost rudeness. What he under-
take? to prove is, that the miracles of our Saviour, as we
find them in the Evangelists, however related by tbem as
historical truths, were not real, but merely allegorical; and
that they are to be interpreted, not in literal but only in
mystical senses. His pretence is, that the fathers of the
church considered our Saviour's miracles in the same alle-
gorical way that be does; that is, as merely allegorical, and
excluding the letter : but this is not so. Some of the fa-
thers, indeed, and Origen in particular, did not .confine
themselves to the bare letter, but endeavoured, upon the
* It does not appear very clearly
whether this was at the intercession of
Whiston. W km too informs us of his
having applied to the attorney-gene*
ral, sir Philip Yorke, who said that he
would aotprooeed unless the secretary
of stale Rent him an order so to do.
u I then," addsWbistoo, " went to Dr.
Clarke, to persuade him to go with me
to lord Townsend (the secretary of
State) hut he refused, all edging Uurt
the report would then go abroad, jthat
the king supported blasphemy. How-
ever, no fanner progress was made in
Mr. Woolston's trial.
284 W O O L S T O N.
foundation of the letter, to raise spiritual meanings, and to
allegorize by way of moral application ; and they did this,
not only upon the miracles of Christ, but upon almost alt
the historical ' facts of the Old and New Testament : but
they never denied the miracles or the facts. This strange
and enthusiastic scheme of Woolston was offensive enough
of itself, but infinitely more so from his manner of conduct-
ing it; for he not only argues against the miracles of
Christ, but treats them in a most ludicrous and outrageous
way : expressing himself in terms of astonishing insolence
and scurrility. Such conduct raised a general disgust :
and many books and pamphlets, both from bishops and in-
ferior clergy, appeared against his discourses ; and a se-
cond prosecution was commenced and carried on with vi-
gour, against which there seemed to be now little or no
opposition, he having by his disingenuity of argument and
scurrility of manner, excluded himself from all the privi-
leges of a fair reasoner. At his trial in Guildhall before
the lord chief-justice Raymond, he spoke several times
himself; and among other things urged, that "he thought
it very hard to be tried by a set of men, who, though other*
wise very learned and worthy persons, were yet no morejudges
of the subjects on which he wrote than he himself was a
judge of the most crabbed points of law." He was sen-
tenced to a year's imprisonment, and to pay a fine of 100/.
He purchased the liberty of the rules of the King's Bench,
where he continued after the expiration of the year, being
unable to pay the fine. Dr. Samuel Clarke had begun his
solicitations at court for the releasement of Woolston, de-
claring that he did not undertake it as an approver of his
doctrines, but as an advocate for that liberty which he him-
self had always contended for ; but he was hindered from
effecting it by his death, which happened soon after Wool-
ston's commitment. The greatest obstruction to his de-
liverance from confinement was the obligation of giving
security not to offend by any future writings, he being re-
solved to write again as freely as before. While some sup-
posed this author not in earnest, but meaning to subvert
Christianity under a pretence of defending it; others be*
lieved him disordered, and not perfectly in his right mind;
and many circumstances concurred to persuade to the lat-
ter of these opinions; but how, in either case, a prosecu-
tion for blasphemy comes to be considered as persecution,
for religion, remains yet to be explained. Such a con-
WOO L S T ON. 28$
struction, however, appears to have been put upon it by
the Clarkes and Lardners of those days, and by their suc-
cessors in our own. As the sale of Woolston's books was,
very great (for such blasphemies will find readers as well
as advocates for the publication of them), his gains arising
from them must have been proportionable; but he defrayed
all the expences, and those not inconsiderable, to which
his publishers were subjected by selling. He died Janu-
ary 27, 1732-3, after an illness of four days; and, a few
minutes before his death, uttered these words : " This is a
struggle which all men must go through, and which I bear
not only patiently, but with willingness." His body was
interred in St. George's church-yard, Southwark. *
WOOLTON (John), bishop of Exeter in queen Eliza-
beth's reign, was born at Wigan in Lancashire, in 1535;'
he was nephew to the celebrated dean No we II. He en*
tered a student of Brasen-nose college, Oxford, in 1553,
whence in 1555 he fled to his uncle and the other exiles in
Germany. • On his return in the beginning of queen Eli-
zabeth's reign, he was made canon residentiary of Exeter,
where he read a divinity lecture twice a week, and preached
twice every Lord's day ; and in the time of the great plague,
he only with one more remained in the city, preaching pub-
licly as before, and comforting privately such as were in-
fected with the disease. Besides his residentiary ship, he
had the living of Spaxton in the diocese of Wells, and in
i575 became Warden of Manchester college, in 1579 he
was consecrated bishop of Exeter, and, as he had been be-
fore esteemed a pious, painful, and skilful divine, he was
now a vigilant and exemplary prelate. His character in
this last respect excited some animosity, and a long string
of accusations was presented against him to archbishop
Parker, which Strype has recorded at length in his appen-
dix to the life of that celebrated primate, all which bishop
Wool ton satisfactorily answered.
Bishop Godwin, the biographer, who married one of his
daughters, and seems to have been with him in his last mo-
ments, says, he dictated letters, not two hours before his
death, on subjects of importance, full of the piety and pru-
dence of a man in health and vigour; and being reminded
to consult bis health, he repeated and applied the saying of
Vespasian, that " a bishop ought to die upon his legs ;"
1 Biof. Brit.— Inland's Deiitical Writers.— Whistou's J/>fe.
286 W O O L T 6 N.
which in him, at before in the emperor, was verified, for as
he was supported across the room (his complaint being an
asthma) he sunk, and expired almost before he touched
the ground, in the fifty-ninth year of his age. He was in-
terred in Exeter cathedral, with a Latin inscription by his
son. He composed many theological tracts, monitpry and
practical, which were all printed and published in the space
of about twelve months, in the years' 1576 and 1577. 1.
" Anatomie of the whole man." 2. " Christian manual."
3. "Of Conscience/* 4. " Armour of proofed 5. «* Im-
mortalitie of the soule." 6. "Fortress* of the Faithful!/*
and 7. "David's Chain/' which last is not mentioned by
Wood or Ames. *
WORCESTER (WiLliam). See BOTONER.
WORLIDGE (Thomas), an artist of considerable merit,
was a native of England, born in 1700, and for the greater
part of his life painted portraits in miniature : he after-
wards, with worse success, performed them in oil ; but at
last acquired reputation and money by etchings, in the'
manner of Rembrandt, which proveif to be a very easy task,
by the numbers of men who have counterfeited that master
so as to deceive all those who did not know his works*
Woriidge's imitations and his beads in black-lead have
grown astonishingly into fashion. His best piece is the
whole-length of sir John Astley, copied from Rem-
brandt, and his copy of the hundred Guilder print ; but bis
print of *he theatre at Oxford and the act there, and his
statue of lad}7 Pomfret's Cicero, are very poor perform-
ances. His last work was a book of gems from the antique.
He died at Hammersmith, Sept. 23, 1766, aged sixty-six.*
WORMIUS (Olaus), a learned physician of Denmark,
was born May 13, 1588, at Arhusen, a city of Jutland,
where his father was a burgomaster of an ancient family.
He began his studies in his native place; but was sent,
when very young, to the college of Lunenburg; and thence
to Emmeric, in the duchy of Cleves. Having spent four
years at these places, he was removed to Marpurg in 1605;
and two years after to Strasburg, where he applied himself
to physic, to which profession he had now given the prefer-'
eoce, and going to Basil studied some time with advantage*
under Platerus and others. In 1 608, he went to Italy, and
» Atb. Ox. vol. I.— Strype's Whitgift, p. 220.— Churton's Life of NowelK—
Fuller^ Worthies.
* Walpole'i Anecdotes. — Pilkington and Strutt's Dictionaries, *
W O R M I V S. 291
doling a residence of ion* months at Padtia, his uflcfotff*
moti parts and learning procured him singular honours.
He Visited other cities of Italy, arid passed thence iofi*
France, remaining three months at Sienna, and four at
Montpelier; after which his design was, to make along
abode at Paris; but the assassination of Henry IV. in 1610,
about two months after his arrival, obliging him as well as
other strangers to •• retire from that city, he went to Hol-
land, and thence to Denmark. He had not yet visited the
university of Copenhagen, so that bis first care was to re-*
pair thither, and to be admitted a member of it, He was
earnestly entreated to continue there ; but his passion fof
travelling was not yet satiated, and he resolved to See Eng-
land first. The chemical experiments that were then car-
rying on at Marpnrg made a great noise \ and he went
thither in 1611, with a view of perfecting himself in a
science of great importance to a physician. Thence he
journeyed to Basil, where he took the degree of doctor
hi physic ; and from Basil to London, in which city he
resided a year and a half* His friends grew now impa~
tient to have him at home, where he arrived in 1613 : and
was scarcely settled, when he was made professor of the
belles-lettres in the university of Copenhagen. In 1615,
he Was translated to the chair of the Greek professor ; and,
in 1624, to the professorship of physic, in the room of
Caspar Bartholin, which he held to his death. These oc-
cupations did not hinder him from practising in his pro*
fessioOj and from being the fashionable physician. The
king and court of Denmark always employed him ; and
Christian IV. as a recompense fof his services, conferred
en him the canoory of Lunden. He died Aug. 31, 1654,
aged sixty-six.
Wormius had three wives, who brought him a family of
sixteen children. He published some works on subjects
relating to his profession, several in defence of Aristotle's
philosophy, and several concerning the antiquities of Den-
mark and Norway. For these last he is principally re*
intemhered now, and they are esteemed very lea riled and
Correct; particularly his, I. "Fasti Danici," 1626. 2. "A
History of Norway," 1633, 4tt>. 3. " Litteratura Danica
anti^uissima, vuigo Gothica dicta, & de prisca Danofujn
Peesi," 16S6, 4to. 4. " Monumeutorum Danicorum Kbri
VT.*§ 1643, folio. 5. "Lexicon Runicum, & Appendix ad
Monumenta Danica," 1650, folio. 6. "Series Regum
2*8 W O R M I U Si
Daoise . duplex, & limttum inter Daniam & Sueciam 0c-»»
scriptio," 1642, folio. 7- " Talshoi, aeu Monumentain
Stroense in Scania/' 1628, 4to. 8. " Monumentum Try-
gwaldense," 1636, 4to. Ail printed, at Hafnia, or Co-
penhagen. '
WORTHINGTON (Dr. John), an excellent divine of
the church of England, was born at Manchester, in the be-
ginning of Feb. 1617*18, and was the son of Roger Wor-
thington, a person of " chief note and esteem" in that town*
His mother was Mary, the daughter of Christopher Which-
cote, esq., and niece to sir Jeremy Whichcote, bart He
was educated at Emanuel college, Cambridge, of which he
became a fellow, was created B.D. in 1646, and D. D. in
1655. He was afterwards chosen master of Jesus cottege,
vacant by the ejectment of Dr. Richard Sterne, afterwards
archbishop of York, but was with some difficulty prevailed
upon to submit to the choice and request of the fellows, his
inclination being to a more private and retired life ; and
soon after .the restoration he resigned that mastership to
Dr. Sterne. In the mean time he was successively rector
of Hortpn in Buckinghamshire, Gravely and Fen Ditton in
the county of Cambridge, Barking, with Needham, in the
county of Suffolk, and Ingoldsby in Lincolnshire. During
the years 1660 and 1661 he cultivated a frequent cor-
respondence by letters with that great promoter of all use-
ful learning, Mr. Samuel Hartlib ; four and twenty of Dr.
Worthington's being published at the end of his Miscella-
nies ; and several others by bishop Kennet in his Register
and Chronicle. In 1663, he was collated to the sinecure
rectory of Moulton All Saints, in Norfolk. He entered
upon the cure of St. Bene't Fink in June 1664, under Dr..
George Evans, canon of Windsor, who held a lease from
that college of the rectory ; and he continued to preach
there during the plague-year 1665, coming. thither weekly
from Hackney, where he had placed his family : and from
February 18, 1665-6, till the fire in September, he preached
the lecture of that church, upon the death of the former
lectures. Soon after that calamity, he was presented by
Dr. Henry More,, of Christ's college in Cambridge, to the
living of Ingoldsby, before, mentioned, and to the prebend
of Asgarby in the cjiurch of Lincoln, procured him by
archbishop Sheldon, who had a great esteem for him.
j - • ■ '
1 Niceron, vol. lX.— Saxii Ooomast.
WORTHINGTON. 28*
IVom Ingoldsby he removed to Hackney, being choseii
lecturer of that church with a subscription commencing
from Lady-day 1670 ; and, the church of St. Bene't Fink
being then rebuilding*, be made suit to the church of Wind-
sor to have his lease of the cure renewed to him, being re-
commended by the archbishop to Dr. Ryves, dean of that
church. This was granted him ; but some difficulties
arising about the form of the lease, with regard to the par-
sonage bouse, agreed to be rebuilt, he did not live to exe-
cute it, dying at Hackney Nov. 26, 1671. He was interred
in the church there.
His funeral-sermon was preached by Dr. Tillotson at
Hackney, on the 30th of Nov. 1671, on John ix. 4. printed,
as it was preached on another occasion, in the third volume
of his posthumous sermons, published by Dr. Barker. But
the character of Dr.Wortbington* which was the conclusion
of that sermon,' and omitted in that edition, is inserted in
the preface to that learned man's " Miscellanies,9' published
kit London in 1704 in 8vo, by Dr. Fowler, bishop of Glou-
cester, and prefixed to Dr. Worthington's " Select Dis-
courses," revised and published by his son John Worthing-
ton, M.A. at London, 1725, in 8vo. '
WORTHINGTON (William), a learned English di-
vine, was born in Merionethshire in 1703, and educated
at Oswestry -school, whence he came to Jesus-college, Ox-
ford, where he made great proficiency in learning. From
college he returned to Oswestry, and became usher in that
School. He took' the degree of M.A. at Cambridge in
1742; was afterwards incorporated at Jesus-college, Ox-
ford, July* 9, 1758 ; and proceeded B. and D. D. July 10,
in that year. He was early taken notice of by that great
encourager of learning bishop Hare, then bishop of St.
Asaph, who presented • him first to the vicarage of
Llan'yblodwell, in the county of Salop, and afterwards re-
moved him to Llanrhayader, or Llanrhadra, in Denbighshire,
where he lived much beloved, and died Oct. 6, 1773, much
lamented. As be could never be prevailed upon to ttfk*
two livings, bishop Hare gave him a stall at St. Asaph, and
a sinecure, "to enable him," he said, "to support his
charities" (for charitable he was in an emiuent degree).
Afterwards archbishop Drummond (to whom he had beerv
• , • • . ...
■ Bml-wick'i Life.—Birch'f Life of TilloUoa.— Gcot. Mag. voli. XL1L XLIU,
todXLvr.
Vol. XXXII. V
290 WOETHINGT ON;
chaplain for several years) presented him to a stall in the
cathedral of York. These were all bis preferments. He
was a studious man! and wrote several books, of which the
principal are here enumerated. 1. "An Essay on the
Scheme and Conduct, Procedure and Extent, of Man's
Redemption ; designed for the honour and illustration of
Christianity. To which is annexed, a Dissertation on the
Design and Argumentation of the Book of Job," by Wil-
liam Worthing ton, M. A. vicar of Blodwel in Shropshire,
London* 1743, 8vo. 2. "The historical Sense of the Mo-
saic Account of the Fall proved and vindicated," 17....,
8vo. 3. " Instructions concerning Confirmation," 17....,
8vo. 4. " A Disquisition concerning the Lord's-Supper,"
17...., 8vo. 5. "The Use, Valu^, and Improvement, of va-
rious Readings shewn and illustrated, in a Sermon preached
before the University of Oxford, at St. Mary's, on Sunday
Oct. 18, 1761," Oxford, 1764, 8vo. 6. "A Sermon
preached in the parish-church of Christchurch, London, on
Thursday April the 21st, 1763; being the time of the
yearly meeting of the children educated in the charity-
schools in and about the cities of London and Westpiini
ster," 1768, 4to. 7. " The Evidences of Christianity,
deduced from Facts, and the Testimony of Sense, through-
out all Ages of the Church, to the present Time* In a
series of discourses, preached for, the lecture founded by
the hon. Robert Boyle, esq. in the parish-church of St.
James, Westmiuster, in the years 1766, 1767, 1768;
wherein is shewn, that, upon the whole, xthis is not a de-
caying, but a growing, Evidence," 1769, 2 vols. Svo. 8.
" The Scripture Theory of the Earth, throughout all its
Revolutions, and all the periods of its existence, from the
creation to the final renovation of all things ; being a se-
quel to the Essay ou Redemption, and an illustration of the
principles on which it is written/' 17.73, 8 to. ft " Ire*
nicum; or, the Importance of Unity in tfee Church of
Christ considered, and applied towards the healing of our
unhappy differences and divisions," 1775, $.vo. lQ."An
Impartial Enquiry into the Case of the Gospel- Qemoniaca;
with an appendix, consisting of an Essay en Scrtpture-
Demonology," 1777, 8vo. This last was a warm attack
on the opinion held out by the Rev. Hugh Farmer, i* his
" Essay on the Demoniacs/9 1775, 8vo. and, having pro-
duced a spirited reply in 1773, Dr. Wortbington prepared
for the press (what by the express directions of \m will
WOTTON. 291
was given to the public aftet bis death) " A farther Enquiry
into the case of the Gospel-Demoniacs, occasioned by Mr.
Farmer's on the subject," 1779, Svo*1
WOTTON (Anthony), ranked by Fuller among the
learned writers of King's-college, Cambridge, was born in
London, about the latter part of the sixteenth century,
and educated at Eton, whence, being elected to King's-
cellege, he was entered, Oct. 1, 1579, commenced B. A*
in 1583, M. A. in 1587, and B. D. in 1594. He was also
fellow of that college, and some time chaplain to Robert
earl of Esse*. On the death of Dr. Whitaker in 1596 he
stood candidate for the king's professorship of divinity in
Cambridge, with Dr. John Overall of Trhiity*college ; but
failed, by the superior interest of the latter, although he
performed bis probationary exercises with general ap-
plause. In March 1596 he was chosen professor of divinity
in Gresbanvcollege, upon the first settlement of that
foundation, and in 1598 quitted his fellowship at Cambridge,
and marrying soon after, resigned also his professorship.
He was then chosen lecturer of Allhallows Barking; but
in 1604 was silenced by Dr. Bancroft, bishop of London,
for some expressions used either in a prayer or sermon,
which were considered as disrespectful to the king; but it
does not appear that he remained long under suspension ;
at least, in a volume of sermons printed in 1609 he styles
himself minister of Allhallows.
His next trouble arose from his brethren in London, of
the puritan stamp, with which be is usually classed. He
was accused of holding an erroneous opinion concerning
the doctrine of justification, which, according to him, con-
sisted in the forgiveness of sins. His principal accuser
was the Rev. George, Walker, minister of St. John, the
Evangelist in Watling-street, who went so far as to bring
forward a charge of Socinianism, heresy, and blas-
phemy. This produced a conference between eight di-
vines of eminence, four for each party; and the result
was, tbat although these judges differed from Mr. Wottou
"in some points of obe former doctrine of justification,
contained in his expositions," yet they held " not the dif-
ference to be so great and weighty, as that they are to be
justly condemned of heresy and blasphemy ."
* Nichols's Bowj *r.
V 2
292 WOTTON.
In 1624, as Mr. Wotton bad promised to explain himself
more fully on the subject in dispute, he published his
Latin treatise " De reconciKatione peccatoris," thinking it
more advisable to discuss the question in a learned lan-
guage, than to hazard differences among common Chris-
tians by priming his opinion in English. In this work he
professed to agree with the Church of England, the gene-
rality of the first reformers, and particularly Calvin, and to
oppose only the opinion of Flaccus Illyricus, Hemmingius,
&c. and that of the Church of Rome, as declared in the
Council of Trent. Walker, however, returned to the charge,
but did not publish any thing until after Mr. Wotton's
death. This obliged his friend Mr. Gataker, one of the
eight divines who sat in judgement on him, to write a nar-
rative of the conference, which was published by Mr.
Wotton's son in 1641.
As Mr. Wotton was a zealous advocate for the reforma-
tion, he published several books in defence of it, which
exposed him to the resentment of a different party. He
entered particularly into the controversy, with Dr. Monta-
gue, afterwards bishop of Chichester, whose work entitled
" Appello Caesarem" met with a host of opponents, on ac-
count of its leaning towards Arminianism and popery.
Wotton did not long survive this performance. Though a
man acknowledged by all parties to be learned and able,
it does not appear he had any other preferment than the
lectureship of Allhallows, where, according to the register,
he was buried Dec. 11, 1626.
His writings are, 1. "An answer to a -popish pamphlet,
&c. entitled • Certain Articles,1 &c." Lond. 1605, 4to.
2. " A defence of Mr. Perkins9 booke called A Reformed
Catholike, &c." ibid. 1606, 4to. 3. "The tryal of the
Roman Clergy's title to jhe Church," ibid. 1608, 4to. 4.
" Sermons on part of chapter first of St. John's Gospel,'*
ibid. 1609} 4to. 5. " Run from Rome; or, The necessity
of separating from that Church," ibid. 162*, 4to. 6. " De
reconciliatione peccatoris, &c." Basil. 1624, 4to. 7: "An
answer to a book, entitled Appello Cxsarem, written by
Mr. Richard Mountague," ibid. 1626. 8. << The art- of
Logick," ibid. 1626, 8vo, This is an English translation
of Ram us' s logic, made by his son, and with a dedication
by our author. This son, Samtiel, who died in 1680, was
rector of East and West Wretham in Norfolk. l
1 Ward's Grctbim Proftisors.— Harwood'i Alumni Etooenses, pp. 189 and 221.
WOTTON. 2M
WOTTON (Edward), an eminent physician, celebrated
by Leland in bis " Encomia," by tbe name of Ododunus,
was the son of Richard Wotton, superior beadle of divinity
in the university of Oxford, and was born there in 1492,
and educated at tbe school near IVJagdalen-college, of
which college he became demy, and took a bachelor's de-
gree in 1513. Bishop Fo*, founder of Corpus Christi col-
lege, was his patron, by whose interest he was appointed
' sacius cpmpar and Greek lecturer of that new foundation,
and continued there till 152Q, when he obtained leave to
travel into Italy for three years. Jt appears that he studied
physic on the continent, for be had a doctor's degree con-
ferred upon him at Padua. After his return he resumed
bis lectureship, and was incorporated doctor of physic to-
wards the end of 1525. He became very eminent ia his
profession, first about Oxford, and then in London ; and
wa« a member of .the college of physicians, and phy-
sician to Henry VIII. He died October 5, 1555, and
lies buried in St. Alban's church, London. He was the
first of our English physicians who particularly applied
to the study of natural history. He made himself fa-
mous at home and abroad by his book, entitled " De
DirTerentiis Animalium, lib. X." Paris, 1552; on which
Gesner and Possevin have bestowed much praise, It was
afterwards considerably improved by Moufet in his " Mi-
nimorum Animalium Theatrum," Lond 1634. Wotton left
m.auy children, of wbom his son' Henry became also a phy-
sician of eminence. !
WOTTON (Sir Henry), an Englishman, eminent for-
learning .and politics, was descended from a gentleman's
family by both parents, and was born at Bough ton - hall in
Kent, March 30, 1568. The Wottons were of no incon-
siderable distinction, having possessed this lordship for
nearly three centuries. Sir Edward Wotton, our states-
man's grandfather, was treasurer of Calais, and of the privjv
council to king Henry VIII. and was elder brother to the
celebrated Dr. Nicholas Wotton, dean of Canterbury, the
subject of our next article. Sir Robert Wotton, the father *
of these, was entrusted by king Edward IV. with the lieu-
tenancy of Guisnes, and was knight-porter and comptrol-
ler of Calais ; where he died and lies buried; Sir Henry's-
e^der brother, who was afterwards raised by king James I, .
* Ath. Ox. vol. I.— Aikio'i Biog. Memoirs of Mediciqe.
294 WOTTON.
to the peerage by the title of lord Wotton, was in 13B$
sent by queen Elizabeth ambassador to that monarch m
Scotland ; and Dr. Robertson speaks of btm, as ** a man,
gay, well-bred, and entertaining; who excelled in ait the
exercises, for which James had a passion, amused the
young king by relating the adventures which he bad met
with, and the observations be had made during a long* resi-
dence in foreign countries ; but under the veil of these su-
perficial qualities," Dr. Robertson adds, that " he eon-
Sealed a dangerous and intriguing spirit. He soon grew in
favour with James, and while he was seemingly attentive
only to pleasure and diversions, he acquired influence of er
the public councils, to a degree, which was indecent for
strangers to possess."
Sir Henry was the only son of the second marriage of his
father Thomas Wotton, esq. with Eleanora, daughter of
sir William Finch, of EastweW in Kent (ancestor to lord
Wjnchelsea), and widow of Robert Morton, of the same
county, esq. He was educated first under private tutors,
artd then sent to Winchester-school ; whence, in 1 584, be
was removed to New* col lege in Oxford. Here he was
entered as a gentleman-commoner, and had his chamber
in Hart-hail adjoining ; and, for his chamber-fellow, Ri-
chard Baker, his countryman, afterwards a knight, and au-
thor of the well known " Chronicle" which goes by bis
name. Wotton did not continue long there, but went to
Queen'g'college, where be became well versed in logic
and philosophy; and, being distinguished for bis wit, was
solicited to write a tragedy for private acting in that society.
The name of it was u Tancredo :" and Walton relates,
H that it was so interwoven with sentences, and for the me*
thod and exact personating those humours, passions, axid
dispositions, wbich he proposed to represent, so performed,
that the gravest of the society declared, be had in a slight
employment given an early and solid testimony of big fu-
ture abilities.'* In r598 he supplicated the congregation
of regents, that be might be admitted to the reading of any
of the books of Aristotle's logic, that is, be admitted to tbe
degree of bachelor of arts ; but " whether he was admitted
to that or any other degree doth not appear," says Wood,
"from the university registers;9' although Walton tells us,
that about his 20th year he proceeded master of arts, and
at that time read in Latin three lectures de oculo, on tbe
blessing of sight, which he illustrated by some beautiful
passages aud apt reflexions.
W O T T O N. 295
In 1589 he lost his father, and was left with no other
provision than a rent-charge of 100 marks a-year. Soon
after, be left Oxford, betook himself to travel, and went
into France, Germany, and Italy. • He stayed but ope year
in France, and part of that at Geneva ; where he became
Acquainted with Beza and Isaac Casaubon. Three years he
spent in Germany, and five in Italy, where both in Rome,
Venice, and Florence, he cultivated acquaintance with the
most eminent men for learning and all manner of fine arts;
for painting, sculpture, chemistry, and architecture ; of all
which be was an amateur and an excellent jndge. After
having spent nine years abroad, he returned to England
highly accomplished, and with a great accumulation of
knowledge of the countries through which be had passed.
His wit and politeness so effectually recommended him to
the fcarl of Essex that he first admitted him into his friend-
ship, and afterwards made him one of his secretaries, the
celebrated Mr. Henry Cuff being the other. (See Cuff.)
He personally attended all the councils and employments
of the earl, and continued with him till he was apprehended
for high treason. Fearing now lest be might, from his inti-
mate connexion, be involved in bis patron's ruin, he thought
proper to retire, and was scarcely landed in France, When
he heard that his master Essex was beheaded, and his
friend Cuff hanged. He prdceeded to Florence, and was
received into great confidence by the grand duke of Tus-
cany. This place became the more agreeable to him, from
his meeting with sign or Vietta, a gentleman of Venice,
with whom he had been formerly intimately acquainted,
and who was now the grand duke's secretary. It was dur-
ing this retreat that Mr. Wotton drew up his "State of
Christendom, or a most exact and curious discovery of
raatty secret pa$sages, and hidden myteries of the times."
This was first printed, a thin fol. in 1657, and afterwards in
1677, with a small alteration in the title. It was here also .
that the grand duke having intercepted letters which dis- *
covered a design to take away the life of James VI. of
Scotland, dispatched Wotton thither to give him notice of
it. Wotton was on this account, as well as according to
his instructions, to manage this affair with all possible se-
crecy : and therefore, having parted from the duke, he
took the name and language of an Italian ; and to avoid
the line of English intelligence and danger, be posted into
Norway, and from that country to Scotland. He found
996 W O T T O N;
the king at Stirling, and was admitted to bint under the
name of Octavio Ifeldi. He delivered bis message and his
letters to the king in Italian : then, stepping up and whit**
pering to his majesty, he told him he was an Englishman*
requested a more private conference with him, and that he
might be concealed during his stay in Scotland. He spent
about three months with the king, who was highly entex>
tained with fyim, and then returned to Florence, where,
*after a few months, the npws of queen Elizabeth's death,
and of king James's accession to the crown of England,
arrived.
Sir Henry Wotton then returned to England, and, as it
seems, not sponer than welcome, for king James, finding,
among other officers of the late queen, sir Edward, who
was afterwards lord Wotton, asked him, " if he knew one
Henry Wotton, who had spent much time in foreign
travel ?" Sir Edward replied, that " he knew him well, and
that he was his brother." Then the king asking, "Where
he then was ?" vyas answered, <f at Veuice, or Florence;
but would soon be at Paris." The king ordered him to be
sent for, and to be brought privately to him; which being
done, the king took him into his arms* and saluted him by
the name of Octavio BaldJ. Then he knighted .bim, and
nominated him ambassador to the republic pf Venice;
whither he went, accompanied by sir Albertus Morton, his.
nephew, who was his secretary, and Mr. William Bedel,
&, man of great learning and wisdom, and afterwards bishop
of Kiimore in Ireland, who was bis chaplain, He. con*
tinued many years in king James's favour, and indeed
never entirely forfeited it, although he had once the mis-
fortune to displease his majesty, by an apparently trifling
circumstance. In proceeding as ambassador to Venice, he
passed through Germany, and stayed some days £t Augs-
burg; where, happening tp spend a social evening with
some ingenious and learned men, whorp he had before
known in his travels, one Christopher Flecamore requested
bim tp write some sentence in his Album, a paper book
which the (German gentry used to carry febout with them
for that purpose. Sir Henry Wotton, consenting to the
motion, took occasion frpm some incidental discourse of
the cpmpany, tp write a definition of an ambassador in
these words. : " Legatus est vir bonus peregre mis&us ad
memiendum Rpipubliqae causa:" which Walton says. he
would have interpreted thus: "An ambassador is an honest
W O T T O N; 297
mm tent to He abroad for the good of bis country." The
word lie was the binge on which this conceit turned, yet
it was no conceit at all in Latin, and therefore could not
bear the construction sir Henry, according, to Walton,
wished to bave puc upon it : so that when the Album fell
afterwards into the bands of Gaspar Scioppius (See Sciop-
Pius), be printed it in bis famous book against king James,
as a principle of the religion professed by that king, and
bis ambassador sir Henry Wotton ; and in Venice it was
presently after written in several glass windows, and spite-
fully, declared to be sir Henry's. This coming to the
knowledge of king James, be apprehended it to be such an
oversight, Such weakness, or worse, that he expressed
much anger against him ; which caused sir Henry to write
two apologies in Latin ; one to Velserus at Augsburg, which
was dispersed into the cities of Germany, and another to
the king " de Caspare Scioppio." These gave such satis-
faction that the king entirely forgave sir Henry, declaring
publicly, that " he had commuted sufficiently for a greater
offence." .
After this embassy, he was sent twice more to Venice,
once to the States of the United Provinces, twice to
Charles Emanuel duke of Savoy, dnce to the united princes'
of Upper Germany ; also to the archduke Leopold, to the
duke of Wittemberg, to the imperial cities of Strasbujrgh
and Ulm, .and lastly to the emperor Ferdinand II. He re-
turned to England the year before king James died ; and
brought with him many servants, of which some were Ger-
man and Italian artists, and who became rather burthensome
to bun ; for notwithstanding the many public services in
which he had been employed, he had by no means im-
proved his private fortune, which was also impaired by his
liberality and want of ceconomy. As some recompense,
which may at first appear rather a singular one for a man
who had spent his days as a courtier and ambassador, he
was in 1623 appointed provost of Eton-college. But in
fact this situation was very agreeable to him, for he was
now desirous of retiring from the bustle of life, and passing
the evening of his days in studious pursuits. Whoever
peruses his " Remains,9' must perceive that he had much
of the literary character, and finding now that the statutes
of the college required the provost to be in holy orders,
he. was ordained deacon, and -seemed to begin a new life.
His usuaj course now was, after his customary public de?
29S W O T T O N.
votions, to retire into his study, and there daily spend
Some hours in reading the Bible, and works of divinity,
closing those studies with a private prayer. His afternoons
he spent partly in philosophical studies, and partly in con-
versation with his friends, or in some recreation, particu-
larly angling. His sentiments and temper during his lat-
ter days will best appear by what he said, on one occasion,
when visited by the learned John Hales, then k fellow of Eton.
" I have in my passage to my grave met with most of those
joys of which a discursive soul is capable ; and have been
entertained with more inferior pleasures than the soul* Of
men are usually made partakers of. Nevertheless, in this
voyage I have not always floated on the calm sea of coo*
tent ; but have often met with cross winds and storms, and
with many troubles of mind and temptations to evil. And
yet though I have been, and am a man compassed about
with human frailties, Almighty God has by his grace pre-
vented me from making shipwreck of faith and a good con-
science ; the thought of which is now the joy of my heart,
and I most humbly praise him for it. And I humbly ac-
knowledge, that it was not myself, but he that bath kept
me to this great age, and let him take the glory of his great
mercy. And, my dear friend, I now see that I draw near
my harbour of death ; that harbour will secure me from all
th$ future storms and waves of this restless world ; and I
praise God I am willing to leave it, and expect a better ;
that world wherein dwelleth righteousness ; and I long
tor it."
Sir Henry Wotton died in December 1639, and was bu-
ried in the chapel belonging to the college. In his will he
appointed this epitaph to be put over his grave : " Hie
jacet hujus sententiie primus auctor, D is put audi Pruritus
JEcclesia Scabies. Nomen alias quaere :** that is, " Here
lies the first author of this sentence : * The itch of disputa-
tion-is the scab of the church.' Seek his name elsewhere."
Sir Henry Wotton was a man of eminent learning and
abilities, and greatly esteemed by his contemporaries. His
knowledge was very extensive, and his taste perhaps not in*
ferior to that of any man of his time. Among other proofs
of it, he was among the first who were delighted with Mil-
ton's mask* of Comus; and although Mr. Warton has pro-
nounced him to be " on the whole a mixed and desultory
character," he has found San able defender in a living au-
thor of equal taste and judgment, who observes on Mr.
W O T T O N. *M
Warton's expression, that " this in a strict sense may be
tine) but surely not in the way of censure. He mingled
the character of an active statesman with that of a recluse
scholar; and be wandered from the crooked and thorny
intrigues of diplomacy into the flowery paths of the muses.
But is it not high praise to have been thus desultory ?"
The same writer says of sir Henry as a poet, " It may be
true, that sir Henry's genius was not suited to the bighet
conceptions of Milton. His mind was subtle and elegant
rather than sublime. , In truth the habits of a diplomatist,
and of a great poet, are altogether incompatible/' but
"for moral and didactic poetry, the experience of a states-
man does not disqualify him," and of this species, sir
Henry has left some exquisite specimens. He seems to
have lived in a perpetual struggle between his. curiosity
respecting the world, fomented by his ambition, and his
love of books, contemplation, and quiet. His letters to
sir Edmund Bacon, who married his niece, prove his strong
family affections. His heart appears to have been moulded
with a high degree of moral tenderness. This, both the
sentiments attributed to him by Walton, and the cast of
his poems, sufficiently evince.
He was a great enemy to wrangling and disputes about
religion ; and used to cut inquiries short by witticisms.
To one who asked him, " Whether a Papist may be saved ?"
he replied, " You may he saved without knowing that :
look to yourself." To another, who was railing at the
papists with more zeal than knowledge, he gave this ad-
vice : " Pray, Sir, forbear, till you have studied the pofnts
better ; for, the wise Italians have this proverb, ' He that
understands amiss concludes worse ;' and beware of think-
ing, that, the farther you go from the church of Rome,
the nearer you are to God." One or two more of his bohs
mots are preserved. A pleasant priest of his acquaintance
at Rome invited him one evening to hear their vesper-
music, and seeing him standing in an obscure corner of
the church, sent a boy to him with this question, writ upon
a scrap of paper, " Where was your religion to be found
before Luther?" To which sir Henry sent back under-
written, "Where yours is not to be found, in the written
word of God." Another evening, sir Henry sent a boy of
the choir with this question to his friend: " Do you be-
lieve those many thousands of poor Christians damned who
were excommunicated because the pope and the duke of
300 W O T T O N.
Venice could not agree about their temporalities?99 To
which the priest underwrit in French, " Excusez moi,
. Monsieur."
Sir Henry Wotton had proposed, after he was settled at
Eton, to write the " Life of Martin Luther," and in it
" The History of the Reformation," as it was carried orr in
Germany. He bad made some progress in this work* when
Charles I. prevailed with him to lay that aside, and to apply
himself to the writing of a history of England. He pro-
ceeded to sketch out some short characters as materials,
which are in his " Reliquiae," but proceeded no farther.
His works separately or collectively published were, i.
u Epistola de Caspare Scioppio," Amberg, 1613, 8 vo. 2.
" Epistola ad Marcum Velserum duumvirum Augustas Vin-
delic. ann. 1612." 3. "The Elements of Architecture,"
Lond. 1624, 4to, a treatise still held in estimation. It was
translated into Latin, and 'annexed to the works of Vitru-
vius, and to Freart's " Parallel of the ancient architecture
with the modern." 4. " Plausus et Vota ad regem e Sco-
tia reducem," Lond. 1633, small folio, reprinted in Lam-
phire's "Monarchia Britannica," Oxford, 1681, 8vo. 5.
€C Parallel between Robert earl of Essex and George late
duke of Bucks," London, 1641, 4to, not remarkable for
the judgment displayed. There were scarcely any paral-
lelisms in the twa characters. 6. " Short View of the
life and death of George Duke of Bucks," London, 1642,4to.
7. " Difference and disparity between the estates and con-
ditions of George duke of Bucks and Robert earl of Essex."
8. " Characters of, and observations on some kings of Eng-
land." 9. " The election of the new duke of Venice after
the death of Giovanni Bembo." \6. " Philosophical Sur-
vey of Education, cfr moral Architecture." 11. ."Apho-
risms of Education." 12. " The great Action between
Pompey and Caesar extracted out of the Roman and Greek
writers." 13. " Meditations on the 22d chapter of. Gene-
sis." 14. " Meditations on Christmas day." 15. " Leu
ters to and characters of certain personages." 16. " Various
Poems." All or most of these pieces are published toge-
ther in a volume entitled "Reliquiae Wottonianae," at Lon-
don, 1651, 1654, 1672, and 1685, in 8vo. 17. " Letters
to sir Edmund Bacon," London, 1661, 8vo, reprinted with
some editions of " Reliquiae Wottonianae." 18. " Letters
to the Lord Zouch," printed at the end of " Reliquiae Wot-
tonianae" in the edition of 1685. 19. "The State of Chris-
WOTTON. >301
tendom; or a more exact and. curious discovery of maay
secret passages and hidden mysteries of the times," Lon-
don, 1657, folio, reprinted at' London in 1667, folio, with
this title; "The State of Christendom, giving a perfect
and exact discovery of many political intrigues and secret
mysteries of state practised in most of the courts of Europe,
with ?ui account of their several claims, interests, and pre-
tensions.'* 20. He hath also several letters to George
duke of Bucks in the " Cabala, Mysteries of State,9' Lon-
don, 1654, 4to, and in "Cabala, or Serin ia sacra," London,
1663, folio. 21. "Journal of his Embassies to Venice,'*
a manuscript fairly written, formerly in the library of Ed-
ward lord Conway. 22. "Three propositions to the Count
d'Angosciola it) matter of duel, comprehending (as it seems)
the < latitude of that subject ;" a manuscript some time in
the library of Ralph Sheldon, esq.; and since in ttiat of
the college of arms.1
- WOTTON (Nicholas), an eminent statesman and dean
of Canterbury, was, as we have already noticed, grand
uncle to the preceding sir Henry. He was the fourth son
of sir Robert Wotton, knt. by Anne Belknapp, daughter of
sir Henry Belknapp, knt. and was born about 1497. He
was educated in the university of Oxford, where he studied
the canon and civil law, his skill in. which recommended
him to the notice of Tunstall, bishop of London, to whom
he became official in 1528, being at that time doctor of
laws. Having entered into the church, he was collated by
archbishop Warbam to the rectory of Ivychurch in the
county of Kent. But this benefice he resigned in 1555,
reserving to himself a pension of twenty-two marks, one
third of its reputed value, during .his life. He continued
to act as a civilian ; and in 1536, when sentence was pro-
nounced upon Anne Bojeyo, he appeared in court, as her
proctor.
In 1538 archbishop Cranmer constituted him commissary
of his faculties for the term of his natural life. About the
same time be became chaplain to the king, who in 1539
nominated him to the archdeaconry of Gloucester, then
vacant by the promotion of archdeacon Bell to the see of
Worcester. His next promotion was to the deanery of
Canterbury in 1541 ; in addition to which he obtained in
1 Life by Walton. — Biog. Brit.-— Life by tir Egerton Brvdges in the Biblio-
grapher, vol. M.— Burnet's Lift of Bedel.— Garwood'* Alumni Etoneases. —
Topographer, vol. I.
«02 WOTTON.
1544 the deanery of York, and was the only: person wfcp
ever possessed at the same time the deaneries of the two
metropolitan churches* In 1545 he was presented to the
prebend of Osbaldwick in York cathedral;. Jn 155$ here-
signed the archdeaconry of Gloucester, and was presented
in 1 557 to the treasuryship of the church of Exeter, which
be also relinquished the succeeding year.
Such were the appointments which Wotton obtained,
but in 1539 he had refused a bishopric, and it is said that
he refused the see of Canterbury, so that whatever he
might be as a courtier, he was an unambitious ecclesiastic.
His talents indeed were better suited to political negocisv
tion, and accordingly he was often employed on. foreign
embassies. His first service abroad is thought to have been
his embassy to Cleves in 1539, in order to carry on the
treaty of marriage between Henry and the Jady Anne ; and
it fell to his lot afterwards to acquaint the duke of Cleves
with Henry's repudiation of his sister. In 1546 he was one
of the commissioners who met at Carnpe, a small place be-
tween Ardres and Guisnes, in order to negociate peace
between England, Scotland, and France. In\ September fol-
lowing he obtained the royal dispensation for non-resideace
on his preferments, being then the king's ambassador in
France, and was there at the death of Henry, by whose
will he was appointed one of the executors to whom, during
the minority of his son Edward V L he entrusted the go-
vernment of the kingdom.
During the reign of Edward, the abilities of Wotton were
exercised not only abroad, but also in his own country ; as
he held, for a short time, the distinguished office of prin-
cipal secretary of state, to which he was appointed in
1549, but resigned it in 1550 to Cecil. He was one of
the council who, on Oct. 6, 1549, seceded from the pro-
tector, and who addressed a memorial to the young king on
the encroachments of that unfortunate nobleman. In 155 L,
he was sent ambassador to the emperor, in order to explain
that no absolute assurance had ever been made to the lady
Mary, in respect to the exercise of her religion, but that
only a temporary connivance had been granted under the
hope of her amendment. Mary had been threatened, as
well as pressed, on the point of conformity, and she did not
fail to represent in the most odious lights these proceedings
to her kinsman Charles, who, by his ambassador, remon-
strated to the English court on her behalf, and Edward),
W O T T O N. 303
prevailed upon by his council, sent Wotton. to continue a
good correspondence with bia imperial majesty. At the
death of Edward, Wotton, sir William Pickering, and sir
Thomas Chaloner, were ambassadors in France, whence
they wrote to Mary on her accession to the throne, acknow-
ledging her queen, and ceasing to act any further in their
public character. But in this capacity she thought proper
to continue Wotton, with whom she joined sir Anthony St*
Leger.
From France the dean is said, to have written to the queen
in 1553, on the following subject. He. dreamed that hi*
nephew Thomas Wotton was inclined to be a party in such
a project, as, if he were not suddenly prevented, would
turn out both to the loss of bis life, and the ruin of his fa*
miiy. Accordingly he resolved to use such a preventive,
as might be of no inconvenience either to himself or his
nephew. He therefore wrote to Mary, requesting that his
nephew might be sent for out of Kent, and that he might
be interrogated by the lords of the council in some such
feigned speeches, as would give a colour to bis commit-
ment to & favourable prison. He added, that he would ac-
quaint her majesty with the true reason of his request,
when he should next become so happy as to see and speak
to ber. It was accordingly done as he desired, > but whe-
ther he gave her majesty " the true reason,9' we are not
informed. The subject dwelling much on the dean's mind,
he might have had a dream, yet the whole was probably an
ingenious precaution to prevent his nephew from being in*
vol.yed in Wyat's rebellion (which broke out soon after),
and which he was afraid might be the case, from the ancient
friendship that hod subsisted between the families of Wot-
ton and Wyat.
The last important service Wotton performed in the
reign of queen Mary was in 1557, when he detected the
rebellions plot of Thomas Stafford, the consequence of
which was Stafford's defeat . and execution, and a declara-
tion of war against France. At the queen's death he was
acting as one of the commissioners to treat of a peace be-
tween England, Spain, and France, and in this station
queen Elizabeth retained him (having also appointed btfln
a privy-counsellor), and after much negociation peace was
concluded at Chateau-Cambresis April 2, 1559. He was
afterwards commissioned with lord Howard and sir Ntcho~
las Tbrogmorton to receive from the French king the con*
firmaiion of the treaty.
364 WOTTON.
This peace, however, was of short duration. The am*
Jritious proceedings of the French court in 1.159, and the
success of their arms against the Scotch protestants, were
sufficient to excite the vigilance of Elizabeth. Her indig-
nation at the claim of Mary (queen of Scots) to the Eng->
lish crown, a claim which the French hoped to establish,
and the declining affairs of the reformers who solicited her
assistance, at length determined ber to send a powerful,
force to Scotland. In the event of this quarrel the French
were obliged to capitulate, and commissioners were ap-
pointed to treat of peace. Those on the part of England
were dean Wotton and sir William Cecil; on that of
France, Mouluc bishop of Valence, and the Sieur de Ran-
dan. The interests of the English and French courts were
soon adjusted ; but to a formal treaty with the Scots, the
French ambassador considered it derogatory from the dig-
nity of their sovereign to accede. The redress of their
grievances was, however, granted in the name of Francis
and Mary, and accepted by the Scots, as an act of royal
indulgence. And whatever concessions they obtained,
whether in respect to their personal safety, or their public
demands, the French ambassadors agreed to insert in the
treaty with Elizabeth ; so that they were sanctioned, though
not with the name, yet with all the security of the most so*
lemn negociation. The treaty" was signed at Edinburgh,
July 6, 1560.
The public services of Wotton were afterwards employed
in regard to the trade of the English merchants, who had
been ill-treated not only in Spain, but more particularly in
the Netherlands, upon pretence of civil differences, but in
"fact out of hatred to the protestant religion. They there*
fore removed their mart to Embden in East FrieslaneL But
Guzman de Sylva (canon of Toledo), then the Spanish am-
bassador in England, endeavoured to compose these diffe*
rences, which he found materially to affect the interests of
the Netherlands. At length Elizabeth, and the duchess of
Parma, regent of the Low- Countries, exchanged in Dec.
1564, a mutual agreement, by which the commerce be-
tween the two countries was restored, and viscount Mon-
tague, dean Wotton, and Dr. Haddon,N were sent commis-
sioners to Bruges in order to a full discussion of the subject.
But, in the following year, the troubles in the Netherlands
pat a stop to their farther conference, after it had beet)
agreed, that there should be an open trade, till one prince
W O T T O N. SOS
t
denounced war against the other; and in that case, the
merchants should hare forty days notice to dispose of them*
selves and their effects.
This was probably the last employment of the dean,
which indeed he did not Jong survive* He died at his
house in Warwick-lane, Jan. 25, 1566, aged about seventy,
, and was interred in Canterbury cathedral, in the chapel of
.the Holy Trinity, where is a beautiful and much admired
monument, part, if not the whole of which, was executed
at Rome. He is represented kneeling at bis devotions;
the head is said to have been carved by, his own order, while
living. Over his figure is a very long Latin inscription,
containing many particulars of his life. As he died un-
married, he left his nephew Thomas Wotton his heir.
The dean's life, we have seen, was chiefly devoted to
political affairs, yet he was not wholly unemployed as a
divine. In 1537, the more learned ecclesiastics of that
period were called together in order to the composition of
the book entitled " The godly and pious institutioa of a
Christian man ;" among these was Dr. Wotton. To their
discussion and judgment many of the principal points of
religion were submitted. From his compliance under the
differing reigns of Henry, Edward, Mary, and Elizabeth, '
he has been concluded to be a time-server, and a man of
ho decided religious principle*; and he certainly is rather
to be considered as a politician than an ecclesiastic, for it
was in the former character principally that his services*
were required by his respective sovereigns. His learning
is said to have been profound, and extensive, find to have
been displayed to the greatest advantage in the force of
his arguments, and in the easiness of his elocution. In
council bis sentiments were delivered with admirable dis-
cretion, and maintained with undaunted resolution. The
' Vigilance of his political conduct, both at home and abroad,
distinguished him as an exemplary statesman ; and the fa*
cility with which he could discuss the merit? of a cause
(his method being exact, and his memory tenacious),
marked him as an acute civilian. His knowledge of trade
' and commerce was no less conspicuous, and in an ac-*
quaintance with the polity of nations he was inferior to
none. " To the greatness of his character Holinsbed and
Camden have bequeathed their testimonies ; and Henry
VIII. is said to have thus addressed him, when he was
about to depart on spi embassy, " Sir, I have sent a head
Vol. XXXII. X
306 W O T T O N.
by Cromwell, a purse hy Wolsey, a sword by Branded and
I must fiow send the law by you to treat with enemies." ' <
WOTTON (William), an English divine of uncommon
parts and teaming, was the son of Mr. Henry Wotton, ,
rector of Wrentbam, in Suffolk, a man of considerable
learning also, and well skilled in the Oriental tongue& He
was born at Wcentham the 1 3th of August, 1666, and was
educated by his father. He discovered a most extraor-
dinary genius for learning languages ; and, though what is
related of him upon this head may appear wonderful, yes
it is so .well attested that we know not how to refuse it
Credit. Sir Philip Skippon, who lived at Wrentbam, in a
letter to Mr. John. Ray, Sept. IS, 167 J, writes thus of him s
" I shall somewhat surprise you with what 1 have seen in a
little boy, William Wotton, five year* old the last month,
the son of Mr. Wotton, minister of this parish, who hath*
instructed his child within the last three quarters of a year,
in the reading the Latin, Greek, and Hebrew languages*
which be can read almost as well as English; and that
tongue be, could read at four years and three months old
as well as most lads of twice his age* I could send you-
many particulars about bis rendering chapters and psalm?
out of the three learned languages into English,'9 &c.
Among sir Philip's papers was found a draught of a longer
letter to Mr. Ray, in which these farther particulars are*
added to the above; " He is not yet able to parse any
language/ but what hq performs in turning the three
learned tongues it\to English is, done by strength 6f me-
mory; so that he is ready to mistake when some words of
different signification have near the same sound. His father
hath taught him by no rules, but only uses the child's me-
mory in remembering words : some other children of his>
age seem to have as good a fancy and as quick apprehen-
sion." He was admitted of Catharine Hall, Cambridge, in
April 1676, some mouths before he was ten years old ; and.
upon hk admission Dr. John Eachard, then master of the
college, gave him this remarkable testimony: Gulielmus
Wottonus infra decern annas nee Ilammondo nee Groth $e-
cundits. His progress in learning was answerable to the e»- ;
pectat tons conceived of him; and Dr. Duport, the master.
of Magdaleft-coliege* and dean of Peterborough, has de-
; l tfoifcj'ft Account of the pepm of Canterbury .-♦-Lodgfc's fllustrationf.— W*l«
too Y Life of Sir Henry Wotton, Zoych> edition. — Cootv's iCMalog i>e of Civilians.
WOTTON. 307
ieribtii it in an elegant copy of verses ; " In GelielmtH*
Wottonum stupendi ingenii et iftcomparabilis spei puerrnn
vixdum duodecira annorum." He then goes on to cele-
brate bis skill in the languages, not only in the Greek and
Latin, which he understood perfectly, but also in the He-
brew, Arabic, Syriac, Chaldee; his skill too in arts and
sciences, in geography, logic, philosophy, mathematics,
chronology.
In 1679 be took the degree of B, A. when be was but
twelve years and five months old ; and, the winter follow-
ing, was invited to London by Dr. Gilbert Burnet, then
preacher at the Rolls, who introduced him to almost all the
learned; and among the rest to Dr. William Lloyd, bishop
of St. Asaph, who was so highly pleased with him, that he
took him as an assistant in making the catalogue of his \U
brary, and carried him the summer following to St Asapht
Upon his return, Dr. Turner, afterwards bishop of Ely,
procured him by his interest a fellowship in (St. John's col-
ege, where he took his degree of M. A. in 1683, and in
1691 he commenced bachelor of divinity. The same year
bishop -Lloyd gave him the sinecure of Llandrillo, in Den-
bighshire. He was afterwards made chaplain to the earl of
Nottingham, then secretary of state, who in 1693 presented
him to the rectory of Middleton Keynes, in Buckingham*
shire. In 1694 he published " Reflections upon Ancient
and modern Learning;" and dedicated his book to his pa-
tron the earl of Nottingham. To settle the bounds of all
branches of literature, and all arts and sciences, as they
have been .extended by both ancients and moderns, and
thus to make a comparison between each, was a work too
vast, one should think, for any one man, even for a whole
life spent in study.; yet it was executed with very consi-
derable ability by Mr. Wotton at twenty-eight years of
age ; and if it did involve him somewhat in the controversy
between Boyle and Bentley, that was rather owing to his
connections with Bentley, whose " Dissertations upon Pha-
laris," &c. were printed at the end of the 2d edition of his
book in 1697, than to any intermeddling of his own. Boyle
himself acknowledged that " Mr. Wotton is modest and
decent, speaks .generally with respect of those he differs
from, and with a due distrust of his own opinion. His
book has a vein of learning running through it, where there
is no ostentation of it," This . and much more is true of
Wottoo's performance; yet it must not be dissembled,
x 2
-308 WOTTON.
i
that thi9, as it stands in Boyle's book, appears to have
been said rather for the sake of reflecting on Bentley than.
to commend, Wotton. Wotton suffered, as is well known,
under the satirical pen of Swift; and this induced him to
write " A Defence of the Reflections upon Ancient and
Modem Learning, in answer to the objections of sir Wil-
liam Temple and others;" with "Observations upon the
Tale of a Tub ;" reprinted with a third corrected edition of
the "Reflections," &c. in 1705, 8Vo. He says that this
"Tale is of a very irreligious nature, and a crude banter
upon all that is esteemed as sacred among all sects and
' religions among men ;" and his judgment of that famous
piece is confirmed by that of Mr. Moyle, in the following
passage : " I have read over the * Tale of a Tub.' There
is a good deal of wild wit in it, which pleases by its extra-'
vagance and uncommonness ; but I think it, upon the
whole, the profanest piece of ribaldry which has appeared
since the days of Rabelais, the great original of banter and
ridicule."
His " Reflections" were published, as already noticed,
in 1694. In 1695 he published, in the "Philosophical
Transactions/' an " Abstract" of Agostino Scilla's book
concerning marine bodies which are found petrified in se-
veral places at land ; and in 1697, a "Vindication" of that
abstract, which was subjoined to Dr. John ArbuthnotV
" Examination of Dr. Woodward's Account of the Deluge,'*
&c. In 1701, he published " The History of Rome from
the death of Antoninus Pius to the death, of Severus Alex-
ander," in 8vo. He paid great deference to the authority
of medals in illustrating this history, and prefixed several
tables of them to his book, taken chiefly from the collec-
tions ofAngeloni, Morell, and Vaillant. This work was
undertaken at the direction of bishop Burnet, and intended
for the use of his lordship*s royal pupil, the duke of Glou-
cester, who, however, did not live to see it. finished. It
Was therefore dedicated to the bishop, to whom Wotton
had been greatly obliged io his youth, and who afterwards,
in 1705, gave him a prebend in the church, of Salisbury.
This history was esteemed no inconsiderable performance :
M. Leibnitz immediately recommended it to George II. his
late majesty, then electoral prince of Hanover ; and it was
the first piece of Roman history which he. read in our
language.
In 1706 Wotton preached a visitation-sermon, at< New-
WOTTON. 309
port-Pagnel in Backs, against TindaPs bookof u The Rights
of the Christian Church," and printed it. This was the
first answer that was written to that memorable perform-
ance ; and it was also the first piece which Wotton published
as a divine. In 1707, archbishop Tenison presented hind
with the degree of doctor of divinity. In 1708 he* drew
op a short view of Dr. Hickes's " Thesaurus ;" but the ap-
pendix and notes are Hickes's own. In 1714 the difficul-
ties he was under in his private fortune, for he had not a
grain of economy, obliged him to retire into South Wales,
where, though he had much leisuret he had few books.
Yet, being too active in his nature to be idle, he drew up,
at the request of Browne Willis, esq. who afterwards pub-
lished them, the " Memoirs of the Cathedral Church of St.
David," in 1717, and of "Landaff" in 1719. Here he
also wrote his " Miscellaneous discourses relating to the
traditions and usages of the Scribes and Pharisees," &c.
which was printed 1718, in 2 vols. 8vo. Le Clerc tells us
that " great advantage may be made by reading the writ-
ings of the Rabbins ; and that the public is highly obliged
to Mr. Selden, for instance, and to Dr. Lightfoot, for .the
assistances which they have drawn thence, and communi-
cated, to those who study the holy scripture. Those who
do not read tbeir works, which are not adapted to the ca-
pacity of every person, will be greatly obliged to Dr. Wot-
ton for the introduction which he has given them into that
kind of learning." In 1719 he published a sermon upon
Mark xiii. 32, to prove the divinity of the Son of God from
his omniscience.
After his return from Wales he preached a sermon in
Welsh before the British Society in 1722 ; and was, per-,
baps, the only Englishman who ever attempted to preach
iii that language. The same year, his account of the life and
writings of Mr. Thomas Stanley was published at Eysenach,
at the end ofScsevola Sammarthanus's "Elogia Gallorum." .
Iu 1723 he printed in the "13ibliotheca Literaria" an account
of the .'* Caernarvon Record," a manuscript in the Harletan
library. This manuscript is an account of several ancient.
Welsh tenures, and bad some relation to the Welsh laws,
which he was busy in translating. He undertook that la-
borious work at the instance of Wake, who knew that the
trouble of learning a new and very difficult language would'
be no discouragemen t to Dr. Wotton. It was published in
J 730, , under this . ti tie, " Cysrfcithjeu Hy wel Dda, ac erail ;
310 W O T T O N.
ceu, Leges Wallicas Ecclesiastic® et Civiles Hoeli Boni,
et aliorum Wallise principum, quas ex variis Codicibus
Manuscriptis eruit, interpretatione Latina, notis et glossa-
rio illustravit Gulielmus Wottoous/' in folio. But this was
a posthumous work, for be died at Busted, in Essex, Feb.
13# 1726. He left a daughter,- who was the wife of the
late Mr. William Clarke, canon-residentiary of Chichester*
After his death came out his " Discourse concerning the
Confusion of Languages at Babel," 1730, 8vo ; as did the
same year bis " Advice to a young Student, with a method
of study for the four first years." He was likewise the au-
thor of five anonymous pamphlets : I. " A Letter to Euse-
bia," 1707. 2. " The case of the present Convocation
considered," 1711. 3. " Reflections on the present pos-
ture of Affairs, 1712. 4. " Observations on the State of
the Nation," 1713. 5. " A Vindication of the Earl of Not-
tingham," 1714.
What distinguished him from other men chiefly was hie
memory : his superiority seems to have lain in the strength
of that faculty ; for, by never forgetting any thing, he
became immensely learned and knowing; and, what is
more, his learning (as one expresses it) was all in ready
cash, which he was able to produce at sight. When he
was very young be remembered the whole of almost any
discourse he had heard, and often surprised a preacher
with repeating his sermon to him. This first recommended
him to bishop Lloyd, to whom he repeated one of his own
sermons, us Dr. Burnet had engaged that he should. But
above all, he had great humanity and friendliness of tem-
per. His time and abilities were at the service of any per-
son who was making advances in real learning. The nar-
rowness of a party-spirit never broke in upon any of bis
friendships ; he was as zealous in recommending Dr. Hickes's
great work as if it had been his own, and assisted Mr.
Spinkes in his replies to Mr. Collier in the controversy
about the necessity of mixing wine and water in the sacra-
ment, in 1718 and 17 19^ He was a great lover of ety-
mology ; and Mr. Thwaites in his Saxon Grammar, takes
notice of his skill and acuteness that way, which he was
extremely well qualified for, liy knowing most of the Ian*
guages from east to west. Mr. John Chapman, chaplain
to the archbishop of Canterbury (in " Remarks upon the
Letter to Dr. Waterland in relation to the natural account
of Languages/' pag. 8, 9.) has done him the honour to
WOTTON, 3ii
plaoe^biin in a list of great names after Boehart, Walton,*.
VossUis, Scaliger, Duret9 Heinsius, Selden, &c. all men
of letters and tracers of languages. Wotton lived at a time
when a man of learning would have been better preferred
than be was ; but it is supposed that some part of his con-*
duct, which was very exceptionable, prevented it. l
WOUVERMANS (Philip), an eminent artist of Hol-
land, was born at Haerlem, iu 1620, and was the son of
PaiH Wouvermans, a tolerable history- painter, of whom,
however, he did not learn the principles of (its art, but of
John Wyuant?, an excellent painter of Haerlem. It does
not appear that he ever was in Italy, or ever quitted the
city of Haerlem; though no man deserved more the en-
couragement and protection of some powerful prince than
be did. He is one instance, among a thousand, to prove
that oftentimes the greatest merit remains without either
recom pence or honour. His works have all the excellences
we can wish ; high finishing, correctness, agreeable com-
position, and a tast£ for colouring, joined with a force that
approaches to the Caracci's *. The pieces he painted in
his latter time have a grey or blueishcast; they are finished
with too much labour, and his grounds look too much like
velvet : but those be did in his prime are free from these
faults, and equal in colouring and correctness to any thing
Italy can produce. Wouvermans generally enriched his
landscapes with ' huntings, halts, encampment of armies,
and other subjects where horses naturally enter, which he
designed better than any painter of his time : there are
also some battles and attacks of villages by his hand. These
beautiful works, which gained him great reputation, did
not make him rich ; on the contrary, being charged with
a numerous family, and but indifferently paid for his work,*
he lived very meanly ; and, though be painted very quick,
a&ti was very laborious, had much ado to main tarn himself.
The misery of his condition determined him not to bring
up any of his children to painting. In his last hours, whioh
happened at Haerlem in 1688, he burnt a box filled with
bis studies and designs ; saying, I have been so ill-paid
* Maqy of the best works of Wou- horses is equally excellent," &c. "Upoq
vermans were in the gallery of the the whole, he is one of the few painters
prinee of Orange at the Hague. " One whose excellence in his way is such at
of. the most remarkable of them is leaves nothing to he wished for."
known by the name of the Hay -cart ; Sir Joshoa Reynolds's Workij
another in which there is a coach and vol. II. p. 343, 4tc,
1 Gen. Diet.— Nichols's Bowyer.— Swift's Works,
S12 W O U V E R M A N S. .
for my labours, that I would not have those designs eiH
gage my son in so miserable a profession." Different au-
thors, however, ascribe the burning of his designs .to dif-
ferent motives. Some say it proceeded from his dislike to
his brother Peter, being unwilling that be should reap the
product of bis labours; others allege that he intended to
compel his son (if be should follow the profession) to seek
out the knowledge of nature from his own industry, and
pot indolently depend on copying those designs; and
other writers assign a less honourable motive, which seems
to be unworthy of the genius of Wouvermans, and equally
unworthy of being perpetuated.
• Houbraken observes, that the works of Wouvermans and
Bamboccio were continually placed in competition by the
ablest judges of the art; and the latter having painted a
picture which was exceedingly admired, John De Witt
prevailed on Wouvermans to paint the same subject, which
he executed in his usual elegant style. These pictures
being afterwards exhibited together to the public, while
both artists were present, De Witt said (with a loud voice),.
« All our connoisseurs seem to prefer the works of those
painters who have studied at Ronie ; and observe -only,
how far the work of Wouvermans, who never saw Rome,
surpasses the work of him who resided there for several,
years !" That observation, which was received with general
applause, was thought to have had too violent an effect
on the spirits of Bamboccio ; and by many it was imagined
that it contributed to his untimely death. ?
WRAY (Daniel), a man of taste and learning, was born
Nov. 28, 1701, in the parish of St. Botolpb, Aldersgate.
His. father, sir Daniel Wray, was a London citizen, who
resided in . Little Britain, made a considerable fortune in
trade fas a soap-boiler), afnd purchased an estate in Essex,
near Ingatestone, which his son possessed after him. Sir
Daniel served the office of sheriff for that county, and was '
knighted- in 1708 on presenting a loyal address to queen
Anne. His son was educated* at the Charter-house, and
was supposed in 1783 to have bgf.n. the oldest survivor of
any person educated there. In 1718 he went to Queen's
college, Cambridge, as a fellow commoner. He took his
degree of B, A. in 1722, after which he made the tour of
Italy, accompanied by John, earl of Morton, and Mr. King,
" } Argenvilfc, voli III.— Pilkiagtan.— -Sir J. Rrynold&'s Works.
W R A Y.' 313
the son of lord chancellor King, who inherited his title.
How long he remained abroad between 1722 and 1728 is
not precisely ascertained, except by the fact that a cast in
bronze, by Pozzo, was taken of his profile, in ,1726, at
Rome. • It had this inscription upon the reverse, "Nil ac-
tum reputans, si quid superesset agendum," which line is
said to have been a portrait of his character, as he was in
all bis pursuits a man of uncommon diligence and perse-
verance. After his return from his travels, he became
M.A. in 1728, and was already so distinguished in philo-
sophical attainments, that be was chosen a fellow of the
Royal Society in March 1728-9. He resided however ge-
nerally at Cambridge, though emigrating occasionally to
London, till 1739, or 1740, in which latter year, January
1740-41, he was elected F. S.A. and was more habitually a
resident in town. In 1*737 commenced his acquaintance
and friendship with the noble family of Yorke; and in 1745,
Mr. Yorke, afterwards earl of Hardwicke, as teller of the
exchequer, appointed Mr.Wray his deputy teller, in which
office he continued until 1732, when his great punctuality
and exactness in any business he undertook made the con-
stant attendance of the office troublesome to him. He was
an excellent critic in the English language ; an accom-
plished judge of polite literature, of virtO, and the fine'
arts ; and deservedly a member of most of our learned so*
cieties ; he was also an elected trustee of the British Mu-
seum. He was one of the writers of the "Athenian Let-
ters" published by the earl of Hardwicke; and in the first
volume of the Arcbseologia, p. 128, are printed " Notes on
the walls of antient Rome," communicated by bim in 1756;
and "Extracts from different Letters from Rome, giving an
Account of the Discovery of a most beautiful Statue of Ve-
pus, dug up there 176*." He died Dec. 29, 1783, in his
eighty-second year, much regretted by his surviving friends,
to whose esteem he was entitled by the many worthy and
ingenious qualities which he possessed. Those of bis heart
were as distinguished as those of his mind ; the rules of re-
ligion, of virtue, and morality, having regulated his con-
duct from the beginning to the end of his days. He was
married to a lady of merit equal to his own, the daughter
of Darrel, esq. of Richmond. This lady died at Rich-
mond, where Mr.Wray had a bouse, in May 1803. Mr.
Wray left his library at her disposal ; and she, knowing his
attachment to the Charter-house, made the governors an
314 WRA Y.
offer of it, which was thankfully accepted : and a room was
fitted up for its reception, and it is placed under the care
of the master, preacher, head schoolmaster, and a librarian.
The public at large, and particularly the friends of Mr.
Wray, will soon be gratified by a memoir of him written by
the late George Hardinge, esq. intended for insertion in
Mr. Nichols's " Illustrations of Literature." This memoir,
of which fifty copies have already been printed for private
distribution, abounds with interesting anecdotes and traits
of character, and copious extracts from Mr. Wray's corre-
spondence, and two portraits, besides an engraving of the
cameo. J
WREN (Matthew), a learned bishop of Ely, was de-
scended of a. very ancient family, which came originally
from Denmark. His father, Francis, citizen and mercer
of London, was the only son of Cuthbert Wren, of Monks-
kirby iit Warwickshire, second son of William Wren of
Sherburne-house and of Billy-ball in the bishopric of Dur-
ham : but the chief seat of the family was at Winchester in
that county. Our prelate was born in the parish of St. Peter-
cheap, London, Dec. 2>, 1585. Being a youth of promis-
ing talents, he was much noticed while at school by bishop
Andrews, who being chosen master of Pembroke-hall in
Cambridge, procured his admission into that society June
23, 1601, and assisted him in his studies afterwards, which:
he pursued with such success as to be chosen Greek scho-
lar, and when he had taken his batchelor'a degree waselected
fellow of the college Nov. 9, 1605. He commenced M.A.
in 1608, and having studied divinity was ordained deacon
in Jan. and priest in Feb. 1610. Being elected senior re-
gent master in Oct. 1611, he kept the philosophy act with
great applause before king James in 1614, and the year fol-
lowing was appointed chaplain to bishop Andrews, and was
presented the same year to the rectory of Teversham in
Cambridgeshire. In 1621 he was made chaplain to prince
(afterwards king) Charles, whom he attended in that office
to Spain in 1623. After his return to England, he was
consulted by the bishops Andrews, Neile, and Laud, as to
what might be the prince's sentiments towards the church
of England, according to any observations he had been able
to make. His answer was, " I know my master's learning
1 Memoir, as above, a copy of which we have to acknowledge among the
many obligations we owe to Mr. Nichols's steady and friendly attention \fi this
work, and to its editor.
w r e n: in
is not equal to his father's, yet I know his judgment is very
right : and as for his affections in the particular you point
at (the support of the doctrine and discipline of f he church)
I have more